That's All It Takes
by RunningWithTime728
Summary: One shot. That's all that separates us from the dark abyss of nothing and from the world we know as reality. It's a thin line and can easily be crossed when you think about it...Our favorite characters learn one not so simple case can change everything...
1. One Shot

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 1: One Shot**

**Summary: When Kate Beckett, Richard Castle, and the rest of the gang team up to investigate the death of a local contractor, the case turns out to be anything but simple. As events unfold, who ever thought that it would lead to something that could change the rest of their lives. Follow our beloved characters through a story of suspense, comedy, and possibly...romance?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle...**

**A/N: Hey everyone, this is the start of my new Castle fanfic I'm writing. You can say it takes place around season 3 with no certain doctor motorcycle boy (just for a little context). ****I know this first chapter is short, but I just wanted to get something out there for people to read that isn't just about continuations of Castle episodes. If you have a preference of anything you'd like to see let me know, other wise enjoy!**

One shot. That's all that separates us from the dark abyss of nothing and from the world we know as reality. It's a thin line and can easily be crossed when you think about it. One minute you're here walking, laughing, breathing, and then nothing. But who does that right? Who wants to worry the worst will happen when you least expect it? Danger stares at you in the face every day: You could be hit by a car crossing a street, a piano could fall on you walking along the sidewalk, or you could slip on a banana peel and hit your head. Silly things really, but they are there. Who worries the worst will happen when you least expect it? The answer to that question is police officers.

Detective Kate Beckett had stared death in the face many times before, so as she stood with her gun aimed at Scott Urbain, it was natural—not that there's anything natural about having a gun aimed back at you—because she'd been in this situation before. Death was almost like the annoying neighbor who wouldn't leave you alone. More often than not in a situation like this, the person aiming the gun at her was guilty of murder and thought they could find a way out of it by threatening cop, and boy did they learn it didn't work like that.

As a sly smile crept across murderer Scott Urbain's face, she knew whatever he was thinking couldn't be good. In one fluent motion, Scott whipped around so his back was facing her. She remembered hearing herself yell, "No!" and then two gun shots rang through the air followed by four more rounds, one of which came from her own gun. Two bodies crumpled to the floor, one of which was Scott's. The other was one of their own.


	2. Privileged Saturday's

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 2: Privileged Saturday's**

**A/N: Thanks for reading and showing an interest in the story so far! Just something I want to clear up real quick: The setting has went back in time since the first chapter. **

For detective Kate Beckett, getting a "full night's sleep," eight hours at the very least, was a privilege. Between being the first one in the precinct in the morning and being the last to leave at night, there wasn't much time for sleeping when other things could be getting done. Homicide never rests. What could she say? She loved her job. Some might say she's 'married' to it, but if she had to choose between sitting on couch with a bowl of popcorn while watching some cheesy romantic comedy, and locking up the latest ex-con turned murderer, ensuring that justice would be served for what they'd done, she would choose the later. Well...most of the time.

As her ringing cell phone brought Kate out of her sleeping state, she glanced at the clock. 5:45AM. Today was not one of those privileged Saturday's.

"Beckett," She answered groggily as she sat up in bed.

"You awake?" Detective Kevin Ryan asked on the other line.

"I'm getting there. What'd you got?"

"Body was found in a dumpster in an alleyway outside of this café called Daybreak," Ryan replied. By this time, she was already heading to the coffee pot to start this morning's brew.

"What's the address?" Ryan quickly answered and she told him she'd be there within the hour.

When she pulled up outside the café next to Ryan and Esposito's car, she could see the back of Lanie Parish's head in the alley. Per usual, she took her last swig of coffee, checked to make sure she had her father's watch and mother's ring secured on her, and stepped out of her car to catch up with her co-workers.

"What do we have?" She asked as she stepped under the caution tape.

"Caucasian male, early 40's, multiple stab wounds to his lower right abdominal cavity. When the owner, a Mr. Garret Sanchez, went to take out last night's trash this morning, he discovered our victim here," Esposito replied.

"According to his wallet, our vic's name is Louis Denver. Lives just a few blocks from here in the Brownstown apartment complexes," Ryan added on.

"Lanie, what do we know about COD?" Kate asked. But before Lanie had a chance to reply, she could see the one and only Richard Castle sprinting from his car while trying not to spill his and what she assumed to be her next cup of coffee.

"Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?" He asked as he came to a halt and began to catch his breath.

"Glad you could join us, Castle. Running a little slow this morning?" She asked him.

"Mother forgot to pick up my clothes from the dry cleaners yesterday; therefore I spent about fifteen minutes scurrying around my house trying to find something clean to wear."

"Please tell me you had success…"

"Sorry to interrupt," Lanie chimed in, "But we do have a murder here."

"Sorry, please continue," Kate told her.

"That's a yes by the way," Castle added in.

"As Esposito said, our guy has multiple stab wounds to the lower right abdominal cavity, which is most likely the COD. We'll be sure once we get him back to the lab. Time wise, we're guessing anywhere between 11PM and 1AM," Lanie went on to describe some other details they'd found.

Apparently Mr. Sanchez was preparing to open his café, and as Esposito said again, he was taking out last night's trash when he came upon the body. He didn't notice anything suspicious last night at closing, and he didn't see anyone this morning when he arrived at the café aside from the paper boy, who he knows well from his usual route. However, Sanchez did say that the victim, Mr. Denver, came into the café on an almost daily basis.

"Mr. Sanchez, how well did you know Louis Denver?" Kate asked as she stood next to him on the back door steps.

"I know him well," Sanchez began through his Spanish accent. Sanchez himself was an average height man and of age who looked to be of Mexican decent too. "He come each day and order chocolate muffin and coffee."

"Does he always come in the morning?" Castle asked him.

"No. Sometimes he comes at night too."

"Any particular time he comes at night? And did you see Mr. Denver last night?" Kate asked.

"When he comes at night, he brings his wife, usually around 8PM. I close at 11 and did not see Mr. Denver last night."

"Thank you, Mr. Sanchez, for your help. We'll know where to find you if we have any other questions," Kate told him. Her, Castle, and Ryan and Esposito were now off to Louis Denver's apartment to break the news to his family. Breaking the news that someone's loved one had been killed was never easy. When the four of them showed up at Louis Denver's apartment, a little girl who looked to be about ten years old had opened the door. Great.

"Hi there, is your mom home?" Ryan asked the little girl. She simply nodded her head but remained standing in the doorway. "Could we…come in?" He asked again.

"Mommy says I'm not supposed to talk—"But before she could continue, the woman who was more likely than not her mother came to the door.

"Alright Anna, why don't you go on to your room and play?" The woman suggested. Anna then nodded and scurried off. "How can I help you?"

Pulling out her badge Kate said, "Hi, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Are you Mrs. Denver?"

"Yes, yes I am. What seems to be the problem?" Mrs. Denver asked.

"Um…Would it be alright if we came in?"

"Yes, certainly." Mrs. Denver escorted them into the apartment and over to the dining room table. From there, Kate broke the news about how they had discovered her husband's body in the alleyway with the stab wounds and what they knew so far. Of course there were tears and hysterical sobbing, so the four of them left Mrs. Denver to digest the news before they got down to the real stuff.

"How is it that a café called Daybreak opens at, well, dawn, but doesn't close till 11PM?" Castle asked the group as they stood over by the fire escape window.

"Castle, is that really the only question you have right now?" Kate asked. Truth be told, she was kind of wondering the same thing…

"No, but it's still really strange. I would also like to know how come Mr. Denver wasn't home between the hours of 11PM and 1AM when he has a wife and young daughter."

"Well, that's part of the reason we're here, Castle. We do solve crimes you know…" Kate smirked a little.

"And sometimes, we even catch the person who did it…" Esposito added on in a fascinating voice.

"Ha-ha very funny," Castle replied as he shook his head slightly, "Now my theory is…"

"Excuse me," Mrs. Denver interrupted them, "I-I'm ready to talk now. That's why you're here, right? To ask about Lou's background information and find out if I know anyone who would do such a thing to him?" Nodding her head, Kate followed Mrs. Denver over to the chairs they had been at previously.

"Ryan, Esposito, why don't you guys head back to the café and see if you can interview any of the other workers who showed up, then check out the surrounding businesses for any information and for a security camera shot?" Kate asked.

"That we can do. Meet you back at the station?" Esposito asked. Kate nodded her head and the two detectives headed out the door.

"Mrs. Denver—"Kate started

"Please, it's Joanne."

"Okay, Joanne, when was the last time you saw Louis?" She asked.

"It was last night, about 8PM. He was going to head over to his brother's house in Long Island and stay the night there. Lou is—was—a contractor, and he was going to stay the night at his brother's because he had a meeting with an interested client this morning."

"Do you have anything here that would have the name of the client Louis was going to meet with?" Castle asked.

"No…if he had record, he would've had it with him or on his calendar at his office."

"What about this brother? Did you ever get any confirmation that Louis ever made it to his house?" By this time, Joanne was beginning to shake and tears had started welling up in her eyes again.

"N-n-no. I just assumed he had…" And Kate knew now that this was the end of their interview for now. They got the name of the brother and the office Louis Denver worked from, however, she still needed one bit of information before continuing on with the investigation."Joanne, I hate to ask now, but where were you between the hours of 11PM and 1AM?" She asked gently.

"I was here with Anna…My neighbor over in 11B can vouch for me. S-s-she knocked on my door around midnight and woke me up asking if I had seen her cat who had somehow escaped."

"Thank you, that'll be all for now," Kate concluded as her and Castle rose from the chairs, "We can find our own way out."

After leaving, she and Castle confirmed Mrs. Denver's alibi. She now needed to contact this brother, start bringing up some of Louis' phone records, and check in with Ryan and Esposito. There was tons of work to get done back at the precinct.

* * *

By the time late afternoon rolled around, the detectives now knew more than they did to start: Louis Denver had left his house at 8PM to head to his Brother Jason's house, which was confirmed after they called Jason Denver and had him come into the station. However, Louis never showed up Jason's house, which Jason attributed to the fact that Louis had just cancelled his plans with the client. As for Jason's alibi, it checked out too; he was having a late night dinner with his girlfriend at a restaurant near his house. When Ryan and Esposito returned to the station shortly after Kate and Castle, the only news that they had was that they had interviewed a few workers at the café, but none of them really remembered who Louis Denver was (off the top of their heads). They also had a few security tapes, but after watching them, none showed the outside of the businesses, just the inside.

"As for the workers at the café, let's get a photo ID printed of Lou Denver to take back tomorrow, see if anyone will have anything then," Kate had ordered as she posted a picture of the victim's body on the murder board, "If Louis was there on a daily basis, someone had to serve him other than Mr. Sanchez."

"Want to know what my theory is now?" Castle broke Kate out of her train of thought as she stared at the murder board.

"Something tells me I'm going to hear it anyway," She replied leaning on her desk.

"Louis Denver was leaving his apartment when BAM! Someone knocks him unconscious and takes his body to that secluded alley by the café to finish him off. Why is this? Because Louis Denver…was an underground mobster! He only built houses so that he always had easy access to the people who may have betrayed him and so he could get in on bigger money scams. Our murderer was a co-worker who knew of Louis' devious plans and decided to take him out so he couldn't screw anymore people. Eh? What'd you think?" Castle raised his eyebrows up and down. Not even she could resist cracking a smile at Castle's latest and craziest thought.

"I think that you should take some of that and incorporate it into your next Nickki Heat novel," She answered with a little laugh, "Even if Louis was a mobster who built houses to cover it up, what evidence have we found so far to back it up? Nothing," She teased with him, "We won't know anything more about his work life until we head over to his office and latest construction site tomorrow."

"You always have to take out the fun, huh?"

"Unfortunately, Castle, murder isn't supposed to be fun."

"_Supposed to be_ being the key phrase there," Castle retorted with a smile. She had to admit that he was good with comebacks.

"Hey guys," Ryan called as he came into the bull pen, "We can't get the sin card from Denver's phone until morning; the guy's down in forensic still need it for DNA and record purposes. It looks like we'll have to wait till then to check out Denver's phone records."

"Don't they understand we're conducting a _murder_ investigation?" Kate asked. Of course they knew, but sometimes it was either the forensic team's way or the highway, and apparently this was one of those unfortunate times. Sure, this meant that they'd be getting out of work at a reasonable hour, especially after having been up since 5:45AM, but sometimes she found herself full of unease when she knew there were other things that could be getting done.

"Apparently they think it's just for kicks," He replied.

"Well…I guess there's not much else worth covering today," She told Castle, Ryan, and Esposito who now joined the gathering, "We'll pick it tomorrow morning." Nods of heads followed as everyone headed to their desks to grab their things.

"What're you up to tonight, bro?" Esposito asked Ryan.

"Probably just gonna grab a beer and see what's on the tube. Jenny's out of town for the weekend so I get the place to myself…" Ryan was answering, but before she could hear the rest of his answer, Kate found Castle leaning over and asking her, "What about you? Any plans for the evening?"

"Why do you ask?" She asked as she double checked to make sure that she had her keys and coffee mug. As she thought about what she would do with the time, she knew it would probably include a nice shower, whatever leftovers were in her refrigerator and maybe some laundry since she was running low on clean underwear…But Castle didn't really need to know that.

"Just being friendly," He answered as he stood up, "But I do happen to know a good place if you were hungry…"

"Castle!" She objected.

"C'mon, even these guys," he gestured to Ryan and Esposito, "Will tell you that it's not healthy to eat Chinese leftovers every day."

"Hate to break it to yeah, but it's true," Esposito said with a serious face. "Do you know how much sodium is in that stuff?" His serious face only lasted a few more seconds before he and Ryan started laughing.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm still living, aren't I?" She asked as she headed towards the elevator, "`Night guys!" She called and waved behind to Ryan and Esposito. Castle called goodnight to them too as he followed suit.

"Okay, fine. Just thought I'd throw it out there…" Castle trailed off as they entered the elevator. A couple moments of silence passed before he started smiling and shaking his head before asking, "Why always Chinese food? What about a nice hot dog or something? I happened to know of a nice stand..."

"If I say yes, you're paying."

**A/N: Reviews are always appreciated!**


	3. Punch Line

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 3: Punch Line**

"Got your phone card," Esposito called to Kate as he and Ryan came strolling back to their desks the next day.

"Took you long enough," Kate replied in a sarcastic tone and smiled slightly. She could pretend to be annoyed with Ryan and Esposito's witty banter, especially when Castle was involved (although sometimes that really did just annoy her), but the truth was it would be too quiet without it.

"I know, I know. We were gone, what? A whole 15 minutes?" Esposito exclaimed, "Why don't you just use a stop watch and time me next time?"

"If you say so, Esposito," Kate said as she spun around from her computer to follow him. Esposito then handed over the card to Ryan, who immediately began to pull up the phone records. "Let's see what we have here," She mumbled more to herself as she leaned over Ryan's back to look at the screen. The group of them spent a good hour looking at the different phone calls (in and out) and text messages, and there was one common name from someone by the name of Daniel Ivan.

"Anyone talk to or hear of a Daniel Ivan?" Kate asked Ryan and Esposito.

"Nope," Ryan replied, "Maybe he's someone he works with?"

"I guess we'll find out. Let's roll out of here."

At Louis Denver's office, the detectives talked to his boss and as many as the co-worker's they could who knew him. Surprisingly, a lot of it was the same: Most had said that Lou was a devoted worker and husband, good at his job, and didn't have any obvious enemies. Going through his desk, they were able to find a planner with his schedules in it, some of which had numbers to a few appointments or whatnot.

"Ryan, see if you can talk to someone from IT and get them down here so we can get access to the files on Denver's computer," She told him as she turned her attention back to Esposito, who was finishing up interviewing someone whose desk was next to Louis'. This case was really starting to puzzle Kate. Usually by this point and time, they had someone or something they could latch onto. Well they had a small something, which was the name Daniel Yan, but due to the fact that no one had ever heard of him, it wasn't helping at all.

Back at the station that afternoon, Kate had Ryan and Esposito start running checks on the names and numbers in Louis' planner, while she and Castle were going through the phone messages and texts again. They had checked Louis' e-mails at his office, which were about the only thing aside from building and house designs on his computer, and they had paid a visit to his latest project that had been building not far from the Daybreak café. Yet again, nothing suspicious turned up...

"Kate!" Castle had practically yelled to get her to pay attention. She blinked a few times and looked to find Castle staring at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"What?" She asked, curious of what he was going to say.

"Are you planning on having that pen for lunch?" He asked her. She looked down to see that she had been chewing on the cap to her pen and it was now pretty scuffed up.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little caught up in my thoughts," She replied as she set the pen and its cap down.

"Hey, check this out," Castle pointed to one of the texts on the sheet, "Here's one from this Daniel Ivan, just 24 hours before Denver's murder."

"I know the truth," Kate read aloud for the other three to hear as they gathered around. "What's this supposed to mean?"

"If I had to take a guess, I would say Louis Denver was scamming people and this Daniel Ivan found out."

"Even if that were true, Castle, his financial reports that came while we were out shows nothing out of the ordinary. If Louis Denver was scamming money, it would show here or we would have found a record of it. Hey Ryan, where are we at getting a name and location of the person Denver was meeting yesterday?"

"His name is William Cobbstad. Uniforms are bringing him in for questioning as we speak," Ryan answered. When he arrived at the station she and Castle took him into one of the conference rooms while Ryan and Esposito waited outside the door.

"Mr. Cobbstad I'm Detective Kate Beckett and we brought you here to ask you a couple of questions about the murder of Louis Denver. Are you familiar with him? She asked. She studied the man to observe any abnormal behavior, like if he was nervous or fidgety, but if he had anything to hide he was doing a good job of it. The man was average height with a good build and wore a scowl on his face.

"Yes, I'm a client of his," William Cobbstad replied.

"What did you hire Mr. Denver for?"

"I'm interested in opening an auto shop in Jersey. I found the guy's add in the paper and gave him a call to meet with me."

"Had you met before then?" Castle asked.

"Yes, we would meet once a week to discuss the shop. We were scheduled to start building in two weeks." By his short sentences, Kate was beginning to think there was something off with him.

"Mr. Cobbstad, do you know anyone by the name of Daniel Ivan?" She asked next.

"No, should I?"

"He's just a person of interest in the murder. One final question and we'll let you be on your way: Where were you between the hours of 11PM and 1AM?"

"I went to a bar with a buddy of mine. He came into town from Pennsylvania on a 10 o'clock flight."

"Your buddy's name?" Castle asked.

"Jay Bishop. We went to the Shark Tavern in Long Island." She escorted the man out of the room and headed back to her desk. "Can you guys check out William Cobbstad's alibi while Castle and I run through Lou Denver's financials again?" She asked the guys as she handed them the paper with the information on it.

"Comin' right up," Ryan replied.

It took a while, but the detectives were able to figure that William Cobbstad's questioning session had been a load of crap. A background check revealed William Cobbstad had been arrested twice for domestic dispute and had served two years in jail for some money scam he'd been a part of. When Ryan and Esposito checked his alibi, they discovered the last time Cobbstad had even talked to Jay Bishop was when they met for lunch at the Shark Tavern two weeks ago. When they tried to get any other information out of him, Bishop ended the conversation. This put William Cobbstad as their prime suspect. As she and Castle began sifting through Lou Denver's financials again, Castle pointed out a payment of five- thousand dollars that was being deposited into his account at the end of each month from an account that traced back to none other than Daniel Ivan.

"We need to figure out who Daniel Ivan is so we can figure out where the five-thousand dollars was coming from and what role he plays in all of this," She told Castle. As her cell phone began to ring she answered it. "Beckett." Castle and the guys stopped and watched her as she answered.

"Who is it?" Castle mouthed.

She nodded a couple of times and finally said, "We'll be there in a minute," and hung up. "That was Lanie. She wants all of us to meet her downstairs."

"Did she say why?" Esposito asked.

"No, so it must be important." When they arrived in the morgue, Lanie was standing next to a female body. "Hey Lanie, you called?" She asked.

"A couple discovered the body of a younger female named Sarah Larson in the woods of a local park when they were walking their dog a few days ago. Another unit responded to the call, but after iyr case hit the media, they discovered she had identical stab wounds as our vic Louis Denver and she was sent over for me to examine," Lanie explained.

"How can we tell it was the same attacker?" Castle asked.

"I'm glad you asked, writer boy," Lanie said as she turned on the overhead light and brought it towards the girl's head. "You see the bruising by her scalp? They're abrasions that we found on Louis Denver too, indicating that he was hit over the head with something and knocked unconscious before he was stabbed. Both people had traces of gun powder in their hair, meaning that was most likely the cause."

"Do you have the numbers of the detectives who were investigating her death?" Kate asked.

"The files will be faxed over first thing tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Lanie. Is there any other information you can give us?"

"The only thing I know is that she was an accountant at a bank." She thanked Lanie again as she headed back upstairs.

"What do a contractor, an accountant, and a con man have in common?" She asked as the elevator doors closed shut.

"It sounds like a joke," Castle commented.

"A really bad one at that," Esposito chimed in.

"I guess we're about to find out the punch line."

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Now that it's summer for me I hope to update a little more frequently. Hope you enjoyed and reviews are always welcome!**


	4. An Impromptu Outing

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 4: An impromptu Outing **

**A/N: So how about that season finale...? Intense! Words cannot describe how epic and emotional it all was! Hopefully this story will help contain my obsessive Castle disorder until September...Anyway enough with my rambling. Enjoy the latest chapter! If you have any thoughts, comments, or concerns, feel free to let me know**

When the warrants and reports came through the next day, the team was eagerly trying to find the connection between Louis Denver and Sarah Larson, where William Cobbstad came into play, and who Daniel Ivan was. The catch was that Sarah's financials were clear with no sign of a mysterious five-thousand dollar deposit, nor was there any sign in her phone records that she had talked to their mystery man or William Cobbstad.

"We need to split up the work and question Louis and Sarah's closest family and friends to see if they know the opposite victim, William Cobbstad, or our mystery man. Who do you want?" Kate asked Esposito.

"I'm feeling a little drive outside the city, what do you think, Ryan?" Esposito asked him.

"I'm game as long as we can stop of coffee," Ryan replied.

"Alright, Castle and I will go back to Mrs. Denver and Louis' work. We'll meet up here later tonight," She instructed. The two guys nodded and headed on their way.

After re-questioning Mrs. Denver, some of the employees at Louis Denver's office, and re-checking his client list, the only other thing left to do was wait until Ryan and Esposito finished their assigned job.

"It's frustrating you, isn't it?" Castle asked her as he came up behind her staring at the murder board.

"Pretty much," She replied. "I just have a feeling that William Cobbstad is somehow involved, but it doesn't make sense how."

"Maybe Daniel Ivan is a cover up name," Castle suggested. "It would make sense since he doesn't exist anywhere else and his number is out of order on the burner phone."

"Castle…that's it!" She exclaimed.

"What's it?" Castle asked. Before she had time to elaborate Esposito was calling her.

"Hey, have anything for me?" She asked as she put her phone to her ear.

"Actually I do," Esposito replied on the other line. "Sarah Larson's roommate said two days before Sarah's murder, Sarah came home one night saying how she thought she was being followed. The next day, her roommate described a man lurking outside their apartment building who fit the description of William Cobbstad."

"That's a good start. Anything related to Louis Denver or Daniel Ivan?"

"Not yet, but we still have a few more people on our list."

"If anything more comes up let me know." And with that she hung up.

"What were you going to say before Esposito called?" Castle asked.

"If my hunch is right, we'll find out soon enough," She replied as she picked up the phone again. "Hi my name is Detective Kate Beckett. I need a search warrant for William Cobbstad…"

When the warrant came through a few hours later, they didn't hesitate to go to William Cobbstad's apartment. He wasn't there when the barged down the door and filed in, but a wallet with a fake ID with the name Daniel Ivan was found inside a safe filled with some expensive looking jewels. This meant William Cobbstad was either hiring Louis Denver for a job he didn't want to be traced back to, or Denver was being conned and didn't know it. The place was a mess and it was obvious that he hadn't been back to his apartment for a few days. They took a few other objects of his into custody, the most promising being some credit cards, but they still had nothing to link him to the death's of Louis and Sarah or how it came into play. But if Louis Denver really was being hired for a dirty job, that would be plain and simple motive.

When she and Castle were sitting back at the precinct that night, they went back and forth bouncing theories off one another and she just had a feeling that something had been missed; Maybe a piece of evidence at Sarah's murder scene like a footprint or article of clothing. Assuming Cobbstad was involved, they needed something to tie him to either murder scene. If they found something at one of the scenes, maybe that would help them discover something at the other.

"Castle, are you up for taking a drive?' She asked him.

"Are you thinking where I think you're thinking?"

* * *

As she and Castle stepped out of the car at the park where Sarah Larson was killed, Kate realized how eerie of a place it was to be right now. It was a secluded area of the park and it was dark aside from the light of the moon and their flashlights. The air was cool and there wasn't any wind. It made her wonder why people decided to jog or walk their dog in the middle of winter to begin with.

"Keep an eye and ear out, Castle," She said to him, "Something doesn't feel right…" Castle nodded and handed her one of the flashlights out of her car.

"Where should we start?" Castle asked as he shone the flashlight around the dark, wooded area. They parked on a wooded ridge by the location noted where Sarah's body was found.

"We'll start up here and make our way down the paths to the water," she answered as she inspected the area by spinning in a full circle. Well, at least there wasn't any snow on the ground. That would've made things really difficult because of all the different tracks.

"This reminds me of one Halloween where I took Alexis to a Halloween trail," Castle said as they walked along the path that steered to the right. "It was on a night just like this. We were walking along this path decorated with fake spider webs, strobe lights, and eerie signs saying 'do not enter,' and we waited for people to jump out and scare us."

"Was Alexis clinging to your leg the entire time?" She smiled and asked Castle, trying to picture a little red head girl doing so. She was broken out of her thought when a twig snapped and Castle jumped and grabbed her arm. She quickly turned to her right where the noise came from, only to see a baby bunny scamper away. With this, she couldn't help but turn back to Castle and give him a "Really?" look. "Let me guess, it was the other way around?" She asked laughing.

"Not completely…"

"You're not helping yourself any, Castle," She laughed a little harder as they continued walking. When they came to the curve in the path that would lead them down the ridge to the shoreline, she noticed an area in the brush where some plants had been stepped on and brush cleared away.

"Find something?" Castle asked as he noticed she was looking at something.

"I'm not sure yet…" As they put the light on it and started looking, brushing away some of the leaves, she saw what appeared to be—

"Blood," Castle said noticing it too.

"It's dried, so it's been here a while." She put her hand on her gun, making sure it was in reach if she needed it.

"Is this where they found Sarah Larson? Or is there another body?" Castle asked.

"I'm not sure…If this was where she was found it would've been marked off." She shone the light straight ahead and noticed the blood trail continued on in an offbeat path. She tried to step to the side of the trail, making sure not to step on any important evidence. It was when she had taken a good ten steps or so she realized it was quiet. "Are you coming, Castle?" When there wasn't an answer she stopped dead in her tracks and looked behind her. Castle wasn't there. Her heart stopped and stomach sank. Next thing she knew, someone laid a hand over her mouth.

Her first reaction to defend herself from her attacker was to swing her left arm back to elbow them in a certain area, grab their left wrist, and swing herself around and punch them in the nose. The method worked, and the man wearing a black outfit, ski mask, and gloves quickly bent over clutching his nose. As she went in for a second go, the man grabbed her right arm and twisted her around so her back was to him. He grabbed her other arm and pulled it back like he was going to hand cuff her. The only thing free was her legs, so stomped on the guys foot with her heels, realizing then that he wasn't wearing shoes. That explained how she didn't hear him coming and how she didn't hear Castle leave. Well, abducted was more like it. Oh god...

As the guy let out a yelp he asked, "So is this how it's gonna be?"

"You better believe it," She snarled back. The attacker then proceeded to kick the back of her knees with his leg and knock her to the ground. This enabled him to sit on the back of her legs while he pinned her and freed his hands to tie her up. Before she could struggle anymore, she felt something hit the back of her head and everything went black.


	5. Tied Up

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 5: Tied Up**

"Hurry up, Joe! He's waking up!" Richard Castle heard a man say. As he began to come, he realized he was being dragged. It all happened so fast that it took him a few moments to remember what happened: Beckett had just found a trail of blood and he was looking at it. As she began to follow it, someone clasped a hand over his mouth and held a gun to his head. They told him, "If you make a sound I'll shoot you. Now _quietly _follow me." He had no choice but to do so. It killed him to watch Beckett investigate so ignorantly as he was being led away from her. He knew she'd be next, and he had hated even thinking about what would become of her. When they were far enough away and out of sight, a second man hit him over the head and knocked him out.

He worried about Beckett and hoped she was safe. He didn't understand how neither he nor Beckett knew these guys were lurking, but as he opened his eyes to see where he was, he noticed the guy in front of him wasn't hearing shoes. Weren't their feet freezing cold?

"Think we're far enough away?" A second man asked.

"Plenty," The first man answered. As Castle became more aware of his surroundings, he noticed he had a gag over his mouth and his hands and feet were tied together with rope. The two men dropped him and he landed with a thud on the ground.

"I see you're awake," The first man said to him. He was tall and rather large. He also had a scruffy beard and deep voice, and was wearing all black. His voice sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd heard it before… "Enjoy it now, you won't be for much long." They were both carrying guns, they looked to be around .32 calibers. He tried to wiggle his hands and feet, hoping something might turn loose, but he was out of luck. "They're tight knots, eh? Did them myself. Joe, lower his gag." The second man who was a smaller nodded and did so.

"Who're you?" He asked as he looked to the men.

"Not important nor does it matter. You'll be dead in a matter of minutes and there's no escaping. Any last words?" The first man asked.

"Where's Kate?"

"Don't worry, she's being taken care of."

"Bill, I can take him from here," Joe told him as he drew out his gun. "I'm sure Alan could use a hand. I'll meet up with you guys in a few." Bill was another name for William! It was William Cobbstad!

"Alright, alright, it's only fair since we took care of the first two," Bill responded. He then looked to him with a smirk and said, "Goodnight writer boy," and walked off into the woods.

Joe turned to him and all he could think about was how he didn't want to leave Kate—especially not in danger—and Alexis too. Gosh he hoped Kate was alright. She just had to be. If him being tied up like this was keeping her safe, he might even go as far as saying he would feel more comfortable right now. As Joe aimed the gun at him, he knew this was it. Joe looked over his shoulder to see where Bill had gone, and looked back to him. Castle closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever was to come. And what was that? Heaven? Hell? Limbo? Why hadn't he put more thought into what it would be like if he died? "I'm so sorry," he mumbled to himself. Sorry for leaving Alexis and his mother, sorry for not being able to save Kate, for not telling her he loved her… Joe pulled the trigger and there was a loud BANG. At first he thought maybe he died and felt nothing, but when he opened his eyes, he was very much alive and Joe was standing there with his gun pointed at a tree to his right. He took a huge gasp of air and looked at Joe questioningly.

Joe turned around again and then quietly asked, "You're Richard Castle the novelist, right? Please, you have to help me. I didn't sign up for murder." Joe came towards him and put the gun away. He was scruffy and had these blue eyes, and definitely looked like a typical 40 year old guy.

It took Castle a few to actually get any words out, but when he spoke he said, "I-I'm sorry, did I miss something? For one thing, I'm still having a hard time believing you didn't shoot me. Two, even if I help you at all, you're going to have to untie me."

"Sorry about that," Joe said as he bent down to undo the knots, "My name is Joseph Ingly and I'm a locksmith. I was hired by Bill Cobbstad and Alan Arkin to help them break into the New York District Twelve bank and steal a set of rare jewels that were just shipped in from Africa. The man who built the bank was in on it too, Louis Denver. After the heist and getting whatever else they needed, they killed him. Sarah Larson stumbled upon us in the alleyway, so they abducted her and killed her too. I swear I had nothing to do with it. I was just a lookout. And now they'll surely kill me when they find out I didn't kill you. I'm sorry. I'm rambling..."

"Okay…I believe you," Castle told him as Joe looked him in the eyes. This man wasn't a killer. All he saw right then was a man, maybe even a husband or father, who was scared and feared for his life. "Where are Bill and Alan now? Do they have Kate?" Joe finally got the knots tying his hands together undone and they both moved on to the ones around his ankles.

"Alan was supposed to get her and take her to the docks."

"Joe, the only way I can help you is if you help me first, is that a deal?" Joe nodded.

"Alright then." As the knots around his ankles began to loosen he said, "Now tell me everything else I need to know."

* * *

Kate's head was throbbing and ached with pain. She had no wish to open her eyes because she knew if she did, it would make matters worse. She knew she'd been attacked and beaten over the head with something—most likely a gun—but she had no idea by who or why. Was it related to the murders? Castle. Oh gosh where was Castle? Was he alright? Where was she? She could hear the light washing of waves against a shoreline and the air had that sea-like smell, so she knew she was close to the water. The pain in her head subsided enough where she decided to open her eyes and she discovered that she was lying on a wooded dock all tied up.

As she lifted her head a man with a Brooklyn accent said, "Well, well, it's about time you woke up."

"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked he man. She recognized him as her attacker.

"Slow down there, princess, one question at a time. I'll give you a clue: You're the cop investigating the murders I committed. Bold of me, I know. But that won't matter after you tell me what I need to know."

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?"

"Fiesty. I like you," the man said as he walked in a circle around her. "You put up a nice little fight back there in the woods. I guess I don't know if you'll tell me anything. But let me phrase it this way: Option number one is you can either tell me who has the diamonds and I'll spare you with one bullet through your head."

"And if I don't tell you?" She had no idea what diamonds this man was talking about, but if she let on that she knew she might be able to buy time. Wait a minute…they found diamonds in William Cobbstad's apartment...That's what all this was about?

"I put you in the freezing cold water and you drown a slow and painful death. Take your pick."

"Both are so tempting…Where's my partner?" She asked hoping for a stall. She needed to know where Castle was and how he was doing.

"With any luck, dead." Her stomach dropped and she lost her breath. Castle couldn't be…he just couldn't…The expression on the man's face was serious, but she just had a feeling it wasn't true. Castle would put up a fight. He was a quick thinker and creative when it came to getting out of sticky situations...

"You're lying."

"Would I lie to you, detective?" The man looked her in the eyes and smirked.

"Yes."

They held eye contact for a few seconds before the man looked behind her and said, "Ah Bill, I see you've come to join us."

"You haven't finished with her yet?" She looked to him and was now staring at William Cobbstad. That bastard.

"Detective Beckett and I were just having a nice little conversation about how she would like to die. Is Joe going to be joining us?" he asked Bill.

"He's taking care of the other one," Bill replied. She must've looked pretty darn upset right now, because both of them proceeded to laugh at her discomfort.

"Stand up, Detective," William said as he cut the rope around her feet. When she didn't, he kicked her and raised his voice and repeated, "I said STAND UP." It took a lot of strength to get on her feet with her hands tied up and head pounding. "Good. Now enough of the chit-chat. Where are the diamonds you took from my apartment?" She knew what diamonds he was talking about now. But why go to all the trouble for these diamonds? Either way, they were back in the precinct in custody. Oh gosh. Ryan and Esposito…they had no idea any of this was going on. And the Captain. And Castle…

"What diamonds?" She asked asked carefully. The situation wasn't looking to bright either way, but she believed in protecting her fellow officers, and she believed if she was going to go out, she was going out with pride and dignity.

"Don't play dumb with me!" The first man raised his voice. He nodded at Bill and seconds later she took another sharp blow to the head and struggled to stay standing. "You will remain standing! I want to see the mighty Detective Beckett fall from her throne. You know very well what we're talking about, otherwise you wouldn't have stalled. Remember options one and two? Well that was a limited time offer and it no longer stands. You're fellow officers will have no idea what hit them when we get to the precinct...It was a pleasure Detective Beckett. Finish her Bill." And with that, she was hit on the head for a fourth time and she found herself falling backwards off the dock.


	6. Ice Cold

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 6: Ice Cold**

**A/N: I just wanted to thank the many people who have been alerting me and those who have reviewed thus far! It really makes my day :)**

The freezing cold water hit her like a thousand knives. She couldn't move, think, or even open her eyes. She was barely conscious and all she could do was continue to sink deeper and deeper into the lake. When she realized she needed air, that's when the panic began to sink in, and she had to force herself to kick her feet towards the surface. It was a good thing that William Cobbstad cut the rope around her ankles, because now she stood a fighting chance.

It took a lot of effort, but she was able to reach the surface and take in a huge breath of air. She was light headed and could only stay above water a couple seconds at a time. She managed to gasp out a couple cries of "Help!" but everything was starting to take a toll. Eventually, she found her legs unwilling to fight anymore and once again she was sinking. Great. No one knew she was here, Castle could even be…no. She wasn't going to say it. She just couldn't. There was no way she could live with herself if something happened to him on her watch. Even if it were so, at least she'd be with him shortly…

All of a sudden there was a nearby splash. She figured it was either someone to help her or Bill and the un-named man had come back to make sure she died this time. She was running out of air and almost wished she would've taken that bullet. Almost. As she faded in and out of consciousness, she could faintly recall herself being pulled up by someone. It wasn't until she was physically shaking and coughing up water on land that she found out it was Castle.

"C-C-C-Castle?" She asked as she blinked a few times and tried to sit up. Sitting up was a bad idea because she instantly fell back over from the pain that shot through her head. Still, she couldn't believe he was really here!

"Whoa, easy there," Castle told her as he laid a hand on her shoulder to stay down. "You have a few nasty gashes on your head. And yeah, it's me." She wasn't sure if she'd ever been so happy to see him before. If she wasn't fighting fuzzy vision and trying to breathe normally again, she might have threw her arms around him and kissed him.

"How?" Was all that came out when she tried to ask how he knew she was at the lake.

"One of our b-b-bad guys turned out not to be so bad after all. He was in with our attackers, who are also our m-m-murders, and was able to help me out. He's waiting up at the top of the trail for Captain Montgomery and some help, so take it easy until they check y-y-you out," Castle chattered. She nodded and closed her eyes as Castle reached out and took her hand.

Soon enough, the wailing of sirens grew closer and eventually stopped somewhere up on the ridge. Voices were calling out her and Castle's name, but her head hurt too much and she was too cold to even try to call back. Luckily, that's what Castle was for, although he was shivering so much she didn't know how anyone could understand what he was saying. But they didn't have to. As long as they knew where the voice was coming from, they would be able to find them.

"Castle? Beckett? Are you guys down there?" A familiar voice called. This time it was very close.

"Yes!" Castle answered loud and clear. Moments later, Ryan and Esposito came sliding down the hill from the nearest path. It was rather heroic looking the way they kept their balance combined with how panicky they looked.

"What happened?" Esposito asked as he headed over to check out Castle.

"Are you guys alright?" Ryan asked as he came over to her.

"Long story sh-short, we were attacked by three guys: T-two of them took me to the middle of the woods and almost k-k-killed me, one of which was Joe—who actually saved me—and the other was William Cobbstad. Another fought and attacked Kate—er Beckett—and dumped her in the l-lake. I'm f-fine, b-b-but Beckett—"

"…Has a couple nasty cuts on her head," Ryan finished Castle's sentence as he examined them.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed as she swatted his hand away. She was glad to see them, but she didn't bother trying to sit up after what happened last time.

"Can you walk?" Ryan asked her. She answered yes while Castle said no. She glaringly looked at him.

"Okay…" Esposito and Ryan looked at each other.

"The meds are on their way. Captain Montgomery can just show them down when they get here. He's up talking with that Joe guy now," Esposito told them.

"I'm fine," She tried to deny but even she knew better. Then she remembered the un-named man's words right before she was shoved off the dock. "The precinct…the men want the jewels and…"

"We've already got back up scattered around the park. It's unlikely they'll make it out of here without being caught. If for whatever reason they do, the station's expecting them," Ryan answered confidently. It was just what she needed to hear.

Things were kind of a blur from there on out. She remembered some moments and not others. She remembered Ryan draping his coat over her while waiting for everyone else to arrive. She remembered when the paramedics came and she was fussing with them about putting her on a stretcher and taking her to the hospital, but she eventually gave in once they gave her warm towels. She didn't remember leaving the shore, but she remembered Castle asking if he could ride with them to the hospital once they put her in the ambulance. The last thing she remembered was lying in the ambulance about to leave and telling Castle, "You don't have to do this."

"Did you really just ask me that, Kate? You're my partner and best friend, and there's no way I'm leaving you now."

* * *

When Kate returned to work a week later, people were staring as she walked to her desk, and some were welcoming her back. She hated the attention but simply smiled and replied with "Thanks." It seemed like a longer than usual walk from the elevator to her desk and she was grateful to find Castle leaning against it with a cup of coffee in hand.

She smiled and told him, "Good morning, Castle," and graciously took the cup.

"Good morning to you too and you're welcome," he replied with a smile. The last time she saw Castle was when he drove her back to her apartment after she was discharged from the hospital. They had diagnosed her with "one hell of a concussion" and mild hypothermia and kept her overnight for observation. Castle had offered to take her back to his place, but she declined. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was more so because she was unsure what was going on between them…They had a few "moments" over the last week if that's what you called it. He had held her hand while waiting for Ryan and Esposito in the park, he had stayed with her in the hospital from the time she got there to the time she left, and when he unwillingly left her at her apartment, he would call almost hourly to make sure she was alright. The old Kate Beckett would've never allowed this; she would've stopped him when he took her hand by the lake. But the new Kate? The truth be told is she didn't mind any of this a bit.

"Hey, there she is!" Ryan called as he, Esposito, and Montgomery walked their way. "The lady of the hour!"

"Oh please…" She replied as she smiled and took another swig of her coffee.

"Welcome back, Detective," Montgomery said. "How're you feeling?"

"Perfectly fine. If I hadn't been under doctor's orders I would've been back days ago."

"Good, good to hear. You know, you could've taken some more time off if you wanted…"

"I had a concussion, Sir, not brain surgery. I'm fine."

"Well, we're glad to have you back," Esposito said.

"Why thank you," She said once again. "So what's the latest news?" William Cobbstad and Alan Arkin were both captured in the park that night not long after help arrived. The whole issue with the jewels was turned over to robbery to further investigate. As for Joe, Captain Montgomery managed to negotiate that he only be charged with robbery since DNA tests linked the other men to the murders.

"I'll leave Ryan and Esposito to fill you in on the latest case," Captain Montgomery instructed as he nodded his head to her and returned to his office.

She wished she could say the rest of the day went on like normal from there, but that would be a lie; She found Castle looking her way every five minutes like clockwork, so when she went to look back at him, he would quickly turn away and act like nothing happened. Whenever this happened, Ryan and Esposito would look over to them from their desks, probably guessing which one of them was going to say something first. She could only imagine what they were saying about their ambulance ride and their time in the hospital. She tried to focus on the simple-kill-for money-case, but by lunch time she'd had enough of everything.

"Castle, can I talk to you?" She finally asked. Ryan and Esposito immediately looked their way.

"Sure," he replied.

"Let's take a walk." She grabbed her jacket and looked over to Ryan and Esposito and asked, "Something you'd like to share?" The two shook their heads.

"No…I just…wanted to know if you'll bring me back a sandwich," Ryan quickly answered. He was so funny when he lied.

Esposito nodded and added on, "Me too. There's a new place that opened…" She smiled and he trailed off his sentence. "Or we can just grab something ourselves."

They walked out of the precinct and headed who knows where. The walked in silence at first because she didn't really know what to say.

Castle was the one who broke the silence by asking, "So…you wanted to talk about something?"

"Um, yeah," She started out. "I just…I never thanked you. You know, for everything at the park."

"Oh, Kate, you don't —"

"Yes, yes I do, Rick. Please, just let me talk. That night in the park, I thought you were…well, you know. And when I was in that water, I thought I was going to be joining you. And then you showed up like some superhero and saved me. It's not everyday something like that happens, and as much I want to pretend it wasn't a big deal, it kind of was. So thanks."

"Always," He replied with a smile. "Besides, you're my partner. If I didn't save you, the guys at the precinct would have my neck." She couldn't help but laugh and nod at that one. It was so true. "And by the way," Castle said as they looked to each other, "I'm really glad you're alright." He sounded sincere and with the smile on his face, she couldn't help but smile too.

"So am I."

There was a pause before Castle said, "So while we're out, how about lunch?"

"Burgers and shakes at Remy's?" She asked hopefully.

"My treat."

"Actually, Castle, this one is on me."


	7. A Changed Man

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 7: A Changed Man**

**A/N: Sorry this is a little on the shorter side. I'll post again in a couple days (rather than wait a week) to make up for it! Just as a heads up, these short little injections do have a point, I promise! Thanks and Enjoy!**

Richard Castle was quite familiar with the word danger; it lurked around every street corner and inside everyone associated with a murder case. He wasn't ignorant (contrast to what some believed); he knew there were risks when he started shadowing Detective Kate Beckett. Sure, he didn't know what he was getting himself into at first, but he wouldn't take back any of his time at the twelfth precinct for the world. All the speeding bullets, burning buildings, and psychotic criminals couldn't keep him away from the people who had become his good friends—his family. That's what they were; they were some sort of family away from home. If anything, all of this gave him a new reason to wake up each day, a new perspective on life.

He was a changed man; he wasn't the womanizing, carefree guy he was three years ago. He had done some growing up and discovered a side to him that had been hidden underneath this alter ego he no longer wished to be. He would always have some aspects of a kid inside of him because that's part of who the real Richard Castle is: a man who will always enjoy a good sword fight or round of laser tag. The new ego simply expanded on the old, and he was a better man and father because of it. He was now capable of love; capable of loving someone, and not just anyone either.

There was one person to thank for all of this: She was strong and independent. Kick ass and sexy. Funny. Driven. Beautiful. She was a daughter. A detective. A friend. A partner. There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe her.

There was one person to thank for all of this, and there she was standing on the other side of the warehouse with a gun aimed at her head.


	8. An Unexpected Murder

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 8: An Unexpected Murder**

"Good evening, darling. What brings you home this early?" Martha Rodgers asked Richard Castle as he came through his loft's door.

"Well, things were kind of slow around the precinct so I decided to spend dinner with my wonderful family," He replied as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"And…?" Martha asked implicating that there was more to the answer.

"And…Beckett seemed to be doing fine on her first day back and was having dinner with her father tonight," He added on.

"Ah-ha! That was the answer I was expecting."

"Is Alexis home? I thought I would cook up some stir fry or something for a treat."

"She's upstairs doing homework," Martha replied. "Home made stir fry instead of take out? My, you are in a good mood. It's amazing how much on woman influences that."

It was true. A week ago after the incident in the park, he couldn't sleep and Alexis had to remind him to eat. All he could do was replay the image of a struggling Kate Beckett in the ice cold water and remember the way her skin looked so pale when he pulled her out of the lake. The only term that came to mind was fragile; she looked like she could have broken into a million pieces if not handled with care. She had been unconscious, but when they hit the shore and she began coughing up water, it was music to his ears.

Even after Beckett had been given the okay to go home from the hospital, he made sure to check in with her every so often just in case she tripped on a rug in her apartment, fell, and hit her head and needed medical attention. When he told Alexis that last part, she told him it was the writer inside him overreacting and to stop calling so Beckett could get some rest. If it was up to him, he would've brought her back here so he could keep a watchful eye over her, or he gladly would've stayed with her at her apartment. However, he knew how independent she liked to be. If he was ever going to win over her heart, he had to win over her trust first.

"I will respond no further," He replied as he began taking out the supplies he would need to make dinner.

That night, Castle found himself writing to no end. It had been hard for him to pick up a paper and pen and write when all he could focus on was Beckett getting better and facing his own near-death experience. Now that that was the past and he got to physically see that everything was okay, it was almost like the universe was saying he had permission to continue on. He would've loved nothing more than to have invited Beckett back here to eat with him, his mother, and Alexis. Maybe even watch a movie or play an intense game of angry birds. But he was content with that fact that she was meeting with her dad instead. They would have other chances for nights like that; he was going to make sure of that.

Somewhere along the lines he must've fallen asleep at his desk, because one minute his clock read 3:15AM, and the next his cell phone was playing the inspector gadget ringtone (hey, it was free).

"Good morning," Castle mumbled as he located the phone underneath a stack papers. His desk looked like a war zone.

"Morning Castle," Beckett said on the other line. "Rough night?"

"No, just a late one. What's up?" He asked as he rubbed his neck. Note to self: Do not fall asleep perpendicular to the desk.

"We have ourselves a body found in an apartment in SoHo. Want me to pick you up since you're on the way?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Wow his neck was stiff. More than that, it was painful.

"Alright, Castle, I'll see you in a few."

As the two of them pulled up outside the apartment building in SoHo, he had successfully managed avoiding turning his head to talk to Beckett the entire drive. His neck was so sore that he was sure if he moved it, it wasn't going back to it's normal position anytime soon. Luckily, she didn't seem to question it.

"Morning guys," he called to Ryan and Esposito as he got out of the car.

"Hey Castle, what brings you in riding with Beckett this morning?" Ryan asked raising his eyebrows.

"Absolutely nothing," Beckett shot back as she glared at Ryan.

"Unfortunately, she's right," He added on. "The most loving that has happened to me lately was from Alexis when she told me my shoes didn't match the rest of my ensemble as I was getting ready to leave this morning." Of course they all looked down to see what shoes he was wearing now. "I changed them. I can't make the NYPD look bad, can I?"

"That would be a shame…" Beckett teased. "So what do have so far?"

"Our vic is right in here," Esposito lead the way. "But there's something we haven't told you."

"Okay, then out with it," Beckett demanded.

Ryan and Esposito looked to each other before Ryan said, "The man is Joe Ingly." He and Beckett just looked to each other in disbelief. There was no way this was a coincidence, not after the robbing for jewels thing was busted and Cobbstad and Arkin were in jail for murder. So what did this mean?

"This can't be a coincidence," Beckett said taking the words from his mouth. "I-I don't understand." They guys led them into the first apartment on the right as they entered the building. Lanie was already examining the body and sure enough, there was Joe lying on the floor; the guy who had helped saved them just a week before.

"Hey girl, glad you finally made it," Lanie said as she turned around to see who entered the room.

"Lanie, what happened?" Beckett asked again as she paced around Joe. She was obviously as shocked as he was and trying to get a grasp on things.

"Gunshot to the back of his head," Lanie replied. "I'm almost sure he didn't see this coming. There's no sign of struggle on the body, just a single shot."

"CSU didn't find any sign of forced entry either," Esposito added on. "Nor are any of the windows broken or unlocked."

"Which means Joe's door was unlocked, so the killer could've come right in," He added his thoughts to the conversation.

"The killer was probably someone he knew, someone he was expecting, or someone he had over when he died," Beckett theorized.

"Or he just opened the door, shot him, and left?"

"We're still getting prints and sweeping for DNA, and the landlord is working on locating any security cameras," Ryan told them.

"Time of death is between 5 and 7AM this morning," Lanie told them.

"This morning? That was only…" He checked him watch to see what time it was, and he was surprised it was actually 10am. "Three to five hours ago."

"Ryan and Esposito, why don't you guys start talking to neighbors and see what they heard. Castle and I will catch up in a few." The guys nodded and headed off.

"You know what this means, right?" He asked Beckett as he pulled her aside.

"That this whole situation is bigger than we ever could've known," She said looking to him. "There's something else going on here than just a one-time killing for jewels."

"And poor Joe had no idea. So what do we do now?"

"While we await DNA test results and phone and financial records, I say we help Ryan and Esposito interview neighbors. Then we'll pay a visit to our two friends in jail."


	9. Jail Visit

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 9: Jail Visit**

They were lucky that Joe's apartment complex only had three floors, because that meant less time questioning neighbors. Castle knew it was a necessary process, but he hated the ladies who had ten cats that tried to climb up his leg, or the drunks who smelled like their own shit and kept a pit bull or German Shepard as a guard dog; he couldn't be too careful after the one chased him on top of a cop car and ripped his pants. It was always annoying trying to get evidence set straight from people who could barely take care of themselves.

When the questioning was done, some neighbors had proven to be helpful and some hadn't. The family next door to Joe's said they heard some rukus around 6am, but they couldn't tell what it was about nor did they think anything of it. Another lady from upstairs said she saw a tall looking man lurking outside the building when she came back from her morning jog, but his behavior didn't ring a bell until they told her about what happened to Joe. Aware that this could've been their guy, Beckett arranged for a sketch artist to meet with her. No one heard a shot, so they knew the killer used a suppressor, and Joe was found by his girlfriend when she stopped by on her way to work. Ryan and Esposito were speaking with her now.

"C'mon Castle, they're ready for us," Beckett said as a prison guard buzzed them in. He led them into a concrete room with no windows, just a table with three chairs in it.

"We'll have the first one down to you in a minute," the guard said in a monotone voice. He looked less than thrilled to be there.

"I guess he got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," He whispered to Beckett as they took their seats.

"Speaking of which, is there any reason you're holding your neck like a chicken today? Don't think I haven't noticed that you won't turn your head to look at me or anyone else today." Busted.

"What? I'm fine..."

"Spit it out, Castle. I'm a _trained detective_, remember?"

"Alright, alright. I fell asleep at my desk last night and didn't wake up until you called me this morning. My neck is killing me and I'm sure if I move it, it's not going back and I'll be stuck looking like some sideshow creep." Beckett simply looked down and laughed a bit, but it wasn't one of her mocking laughs. It was more like a sometimes-I-can't-believe-you type of laugh. "It's not funny, you know! Do you know how hard it is trying to pour a cup of coffee when you can't tell if the mug is aligned with the pot?" The door to the room opened and in came two guards ushering in William Cobbstad. Both sat him down and handcuffed him to the table. One left the room to stand outside while the other took his place in a back corner of the room.

"Hello there, Mr. Cobbstad," Beckett said as a little smile crept over her face.

"Thought you go rid of us in the park, didn't you?" He asked. Cobbstad didn't say anything and stared straight ahead. He looked different than he remembered; he was rather tan, had a beard, and he had dark brown hair tied into a ponytail.

"But we're not here because of that," Beckett began saying. "We're here, because one of your guys, Joe Ingly, was found murdered this morning. And you know what that tells us? It tells us that you know more than you've been sharing. It also tells me that whatever you and your pal have been up to, it's something bigger than you let on. Care to share?" The room fell silent for a good minute before Beckett spoke again. He loved watching her in these types of scenarios: the way she made eye contact, how she spoke in a voice that was low and soft, yet strong and determined. Damn. "The silent treatment. I get it. Maybe it's because you have too much pride, but do you want to know what I think? I think you're working for someone, and I want a name." Cobbstad remained silent and simply averted his glare back and forth from Beckett to him.

"You might want to think about this," He finally spoke up. "You're in jail for murder, so you can't have much pride left. It wouldn't be such bad thing to be sucking up to the homicide detective that is going to testifying against you in court." Again nothing.

"Whatever you were up to, I will figure it out, and you're going to be sorry that you didn't cooperate with the police while you had the chance. Whenever you "remember" something, or decide that your pride isn't going to save you from the needle, feel free to give me a call. Take him away," Beckett nodded to the guard in the back of the room. And just like that, William Cobbstad was gone again.

"That…was pretty freaking awesome!" He told her with a smile. "I liked that 'needle' line. I should remember to use that in Heat Rises." She smiled and took out Alan Arkin's file next. "Do you think we'll get anything out of Arkin if we couldn't with Cobbstad?"

"It's worth a shot," She replied. "Especially when we don't have a lot to go off of. We'll need to get the case file back from robbery and see what they dug up so far. I wanted to come here first because my gut reaction told me these two were involved." Moments later, the two guards brought in Alan Arkin. Unlike Cobbstad, he was actually smiling and didn't seem to mind that they were here to see him.

"Detectives," Arkin acknowledged as he was sat down and handcuffed too.

"So we meet again, Mr. Arkin," Beckett firmly told him. "I must say, you don't look surprised to see me."

"The world has a funny way of working things out sometimes," Arkin answered.

"Do you know why we're here?" He asked him.

"Something tells me it's not about the other night."

"Then you've guessed correctly."

"Let me ask this: why do you _think_ we're here?" Beckett asked.

There was a pause before he replied, "You just wanted to keep me company?"

"Funny, but cut the wise ass jokes. Joe Ingly was found murdered this morning, and I can tell by the smirk on your face that you knew exactly why we were here. Do you want to tell me a little more about what else you know?"

"I know as much as you just told me, Detective."

"Again, you're not a very good liar." The two locked eyes and all of a sudden he was come over with rage; the look they shared was more of a "you tried to get rid of me and now I'm not taking your crap" one. He could've easily jumped over that table and started punching the day lights out of him for what he tried to do to Kate. What that would have done to him. Goddamn it.

"Who're you working for?" He found himself asking. "A mob boss? A crooked politician?"

"I am my own boss; I don't work for no body," He said in with a bit of a Brooklyn accent. "You guys want to know why Joe Ingly is dead? Because he got himself involved with people he shouldn't have been helping in the first place. So if you don't mind, Detectives, I'm done here." And that was the end of that.

Back at the station, they spent the rest of the day reviewing the files that the robbery department had conjured since last week. Beckett had said their best chance to solving Joe's murder would be if they treated Cobbstad or Arkin like the victims. CSU didn't find any fingerprints or DNA at the apartment, which meant they needed to work a new angle. The file contained the background information on the two, information about the bank break in, and all about the stolen jewels. Apparently they were shipped in from Africa three weeks ago with some supplies. The sender was a bogus name, but the bank account the jewels were being kept in belonged to someone named Bradley Gerard.

"When are we at getting our phone and financial records for Joe, Cobbstad, and Arkin?" Beckett asked.

"It's still going to be a couple more hours," Ryan replied as he held his phone away from his ear.

"And what do we know about Bradley Gerard?" She asked. Castle could tell by the look on her face that this was all starting to pile up. After all, they were basically working two cases at once.

"I have that," Esposito called them over. "Bradley Gerard: fifty years old and lives a few blocks south of here. He also owns a place called Gerard Jewelers in Brooklyn. Police talked to him after the break in but haven't been able to get a hold of him since."

"Let's see if we can get a GPS signal on his phone or see when any of his credit cards were last used. When we find him, I want him brought in for questioning."

By the time all the records and sketch artist picture came in that night, it was almost too late to look through them so they decided to call it a night and start fresh tomorrow.

"Goodnight, chicken neck," Esposito joked as he and Ryan headed out that night. He knew he was going to receive grief from the guys after Beckett called him out on his neck, but she had to go and tell them the nickname too...

"Not cool!" He called back.

"Your neck still bothering you?" Beckett asked as she rounded up her things.

"Yeah. Any suggestions to help?"

"Well, I have one. Care to let me demonstrate?" Gulp.

"Be my guest."

"First, sit straight up in the chair," She instructed. He did so. She then put her hands on his shoulders and began rubbing, and it feel like heaven; it was like her hands had melted his shirt away and they had special healing powers. She was talking, saying something about loosening the muscles around the problem area first, but he couldn't concentrate. He just wanted whatever she was doing to continue. Then she moved her hands to his neck, which made him wince at first, but as she continued, the better it felt. "Alright, Castle, this next part is something my dad taught me. "On the count of three, I'm going to twist your neck from side to side and up and down. Don't worry, I'm not going to break your neck."

"Are you sure you're not going to?" He asked hesitantly. "I liked whatever you were doing before..."

"Oh, please. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it a long time ago. Don't you trust me?" With my life.

"Of course."

"1-2-3," and with that, she did exactly what she said. He winced in pain at first, but as she lifted her hands off of him, he found he could in fact move his neck a lot better than before.

"It worked," He said in disbelief as he turned to face her.

"Just go home and put a heating pad on it and you'll be as good as new," She said with a smiled.

"Thank you for your services, Detective," He replied with a smile. "I think you missed your calling as a masseuse." It was after he said that that she laughed and blushed.

"Well, like I said, it;s family trick…" They locked eyes, and he was tempted to kiss her more than anything in the world. He could grab her in his arms, dip her like you see them do in the movies, and just lay a big ole smack-a-roo on her. So what was he waiting for? After a few seconds, she cleared her throat and turned away. Had she felt the heat of all that too? "I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to go head home. See you in the morning?" She asked. There would be other moments; perhaps something more intimate than a massage in the bull pen.

"I'll walk you out."

**A/N: Hey all, thanks for reading! Here's a short shout out to phnxgrl for her weekly feedback :) Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	10. Investigating

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 10: Investigating**

**A/N: Just wanted to wish those in the States an early Happy Fourth of July and Happy Canada Day to our friends of the north! Sorry if this chapter isn't the most exciting, but I hope you enjoy anyway!**

The next morning, Castle found Beckett already hard to work when he reached the precinct. She had papers scattered all over her desk and she looked so darn cute the way she was so concentrated and focused. He almost didn't want to say anything and interrupt her.

"Good morning," He said as he handed her the usual morning cup of coffee.

"Good morning and thanks," She replied as she eagerly took it out of his hand.

"Whatcha up to?" He asked as he took his usual seat.

"Castle, would it kill ya to bring us coffee and breakfast for a change?" Esposito asked as he came back from wherever.

"It's your lucky day," He said as he put the bag of donuts on the other half of Beckett's desk. "I knew we'd be in for a long one today so I thought we might as well start the day off right. And by right, I mean in a sugar coma."

"Dibs on the chocolate custard!" Ryan called as he got off the phone at his desk. Beckett smiled and took the bear claw that was sitting next to the chocolate glazed one he picked out for himself.

"So, what's the scoop?" He asked as he took a bite from his donut.

"Well, we have the phone and financials on Cobbstad, Arkin, and Joe," Beckett began saying. He liked how they were calling Joe by his first name. Perhaps it had something to do with respect for him helping their department out. "Esposito has Cobbstad's files, Ryan has Arkins, and I have Joe's. We figured splitting the work to analyze everything and cross checking our findings when we're done would be the best way to go about everything. Montgomery is currently looking into the jewels: how much they were going for, are there any others like them that came in or are more coming in, etcetera."

"So, what can I do?" That was a dumb question and answered when she gave him Joe's financial records to look through.

Joe was a financially stable guy until he lost his job at an accounting firm six months ago, which explained why he got involved with Cobbstad and Arkin in the first place. Joe had told him he was a locksmith, but that must have been something he did part time. Like Louis Denver, Joe had been receiving a monthly deposit of five thousand dollars. Other than that, there were hardly any changes.

"Well, there's nothing out of the ordinary in Joe's financials. Pretty much what we saw with Louis Denver: The monthly deposit from Cobbstad's stolen identity, Daniel Ivan," He reported to Beckett. "Are you having better luck than me?"

"Not really," She said as she set down her stack of papers. "All of his phone calls and text messages are to and from his girlfriend, a couple of family members, and the usual ones from the burner phone Cobbstad used with Denver. Looks like Lanie was right when she said he didn't see this one coming."

"It just has to be someone Cobbstad and Arkin were in relations with."

"Tell me you boys have something helpful," Beckett called over to Ryan and Esposito.

"We're cross checking our info now and let ya know what's up in a few," Esposito replied. About fifteen minutes later, both leaped out of their chairs and brought their papers over to them.

"Alright, here's what we got," Ryan announced. "A lot of the calls that were made for the heist and such were done on the Daniel Ivan burner phone, so there are a lot of gaps on both Cobbstad and Arkin's phone records. In fact, the last call made on either of their cell phones was from three months ago."

"They did a good job of hiding their tracks too; Most of the calls and texts in their phone were to each other, and the occasional friends and family," Esposito chimed in.

"Have you guys talked with any of these friends and family?" Beckett asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I talked to Jay Bishop again and a sister and brother-in-law about Cobbstad. All three said they didn't know anything about the thefts until they read about it in the paper, and they didn't know what other dirty stuff he was involved in. There was a reason behind the lack of contact, in other words."

"And Arkin didn't have anything from anyone aside from Cobbstad," Ryan added on. "As far as I know, he doesn't have any family. However, there was a mysterious number that had two missed calls on his phone, and we were able to get a name: Carlos Yanz."

"As in the black market Yanz?" Beckett asked.

"Bingo."

"Who is Carlos Yanz?" He asked.

"Carlos Yanz is a black market salesman and has been associated with different mafias over the years. NYPD has been trying to convict him for selling stolen or illegal items for years, but they can never get enough proof," Ryan informed him. "He has a record as long as the Mississippi River."

"Stealing jewels to sell on the black market? That sounds like a reason for murder. Let's go pick him up!"

"It's not that easy," Esposito objected. "Yanz is more often than not in the wind and can only be found when he's looking for his next big seller."

"Well let's put an alert out for him just in case we've disrupted things by confiscating the jewels. If anyone finds him, I'd like to have a little chat one-on-one," Beckett said. "So what did you guys find in their financials?"

The guys went on to explain that Cobbstad and Arkin's personal banking files were what you would expect, used for paying bills, rent, etc., which is why both used a stolen identity to conceal their dirty work; The real Daniel Ivan died six years ago in a boating accident in Mexico. It was more than likely that Arkin was probably using one too, but they had no way of knowing what it was. In Ivan's account it was all there: the five thousand dollars used for Louis Denver and Joe Ingly, and most importantly, the twenty-five grand that was put into the account on the day that happened to match the day of the bank heist.

"Can we trace back a name from who the money was from?" He asked.

"We're still working on it. We'll let you know when we find out more," Esposito replied.

"Good work, guys," Beckett told them. "I'll go check in with the Captain and see what he knows."

Montgomery didn't have a ton of new information for the jewels, but he was glad they had a name to throw out there for suspects. He pretty much confirmed what they already knew about the mystery sender and recipient, and he was able to track Bradley Gerard down and uniforms were bringing him for questioning just as he and Beckett left his office.

"Is this about my jewels?" Bradley Gerard asked as they sat him down in one of the interrogation rooms. "Because I already talked to the police."

"The jewels are part of it but not all of it," He told Gerard.

"Mr. Gerard, I'm Homicide Detective Kate Beckett. Do you recognize this man?" Kate asked as she pulled out Joe Ingly's picture.

"I'm sorry, should I?" He asked looking to the both of them.

"This man was part of the gang that broke into the bank and stole your jewels, and he was murdered yesterday. We have to look into all leads."

"How about this man," He showed Gerard the sketch artist photo that came in late last night.

"Again, I don't recognize him."

"Can you tell us all about the jewels, starting with how you knew about them?" He asked next.

"Look, I'm a jeweler. I even own a shop called Gerard Jewelers in Brooklyn. I'm a partner for a pawn shop in Manhattan too. I was in Africa for two weeks recently doing some volunteer work when someone I met there told me about this great dig he and some other miners were doing. I expressed my interest and told him to call me if anything turned up. A week later, my buddy called me back and we arranged to have some of them shipped to the states."

"What did they get out of all of this?"

"Nothing. It was just one friend doing a favor for another, it didn't cost me anything. I was planning on giving my buddy a portion of the profit I made off of them, though."

"So what were you planning to do with the jewels? It says on the robbery file they were estimated to be worth one hundred thousand dollars." Beckett asked him.

"I have a guy who makes earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. Once I figured out what I wanted to do with them, he would take them and make them into sellable products."

"Did anyone know you were receiving these jewels, or did anyone approach you about buying them after the shipment came in?"

"I didn't tell anyone aside from that guy, yet someone approached me a couple weeks ago."

"Who?" He asked as he and Beckett said straight up.

"I don't remember his name. This guy came in the shop once and was looking around. When I asked him if I could help him, he asked if I was getting anything new in and some other questions that were obviously directed towards the jewels. Then he left."

"Mr. Gerard, does your shop have a security camera in it?" Beckett asked.

"Yes it does. It's located directly behind the counter." He and Beckett looked to each other and smiled. He knew she was thinking the same thing as he was.

Before the end of the day, they had good news and bad news: The bad news was that the twenty five thousand dollar money transfer was paid in cash and could not be traced back to anyone. The good news was Ryan and Esposito went with Bradley Gerard to his store and were able to get the security camera footage. They all scrolled through it for the day that Gerard said the man came into the shop.

As they hit the 4:05PM mark that's when Gerard said, "Stop! That's him."

"Is that Carlos Yanz?" He asked pointing to the short, balding man on the screen.

"Yes, yes it is," Beckett smiled and replied.

The only problem with finding more and more reason to question Carlos Yanz was that no one knew where he was…They put out word to all the other departments about how they were looking for Yanz, and from there, people who had friends in other precincts or on the street spread word. Another issue that was raised was how Yanz looked nothing like the sketch artist drawing, but someone like Yanz sounded like the type to hire to kill, not do it himself. It eventually got too late to do anything more so they decided to call it quits and see what turned up in the morning.

He returned home to find Alexis was still awake and sitting at the counter with a pint of ice cream and a ton of notes scattered about.

"Hey pumpkin, what're you still doing up?" He asked as he went over and kissed her head.

"Just doing some last minute studying for my anatomy exam tomorrow, and what better way to study than with a buddy?" Alexis asked holding up a spoonful of peanut butter cup perfection ice cream.

"That's my girl," He smiled as he took the spoon away from her for a bite.

"How's the case going?"

"It's…going. We may have lead, but they guy we're looking for stays hidden more times than not. But word is getting around and hopefully we'll hear something by morning."

"Alright, I'm calling it a night," She declared as she closed her books. "Want me to turn off the lights?"

"Nah, I'll get them before I go to bed in a few. Goodnight," He said as she gave him a quick hug.

"Night, dad!" As Alexis climbed up the stairs, he suddenly found himself staring at a sleepy, six year old red hair girl, dragging a stuffed dog toy behind her as she grabbed onto the railing for support. My how the days flew by.


	11. Square One

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 11: Square One**

As yet another morning at the precinct came around, people seemed to be in more of a rush than usual as some shoved right past Castle to get out of the elevator, and when a whole other group made him spill his coffee as he got out and they ran in.

"Thanks for that…" He called after them, but he got no reaction whatsoever. At least Beckett's was still intact.

"Hey, there you are, Castle," Beckett called and smiled to him as the area suddenly emptied.

"Why all the cattle-like people?" He asked handing her the un-spilt coffee.

"Yanz has been spotted. All the departments looking for him all want a piece of him, but I've called first dibs. C'mon, I'll fill you in in the car. By the way, what happened to your coffee?" She asked as she grabbed his arm to spin him around.

"The cows drank it."

"We'll get you a new on the way." She seemed to very chipper this morning. Was it because she was happy to see him? Or was it just because they were one step closer to finding who murdered Joe? Maybe it could have been something else altogether. Oh god she better not have met someone else...

Apparently Yanz was spotted early this morning at an alleyway near the Bronx. He went into a building that had an old sign above called "The Tavern." Two undercover cops on a drug bust were the ones to make the call. With any luck, he'd still be there and they could finally get some answers. As they pulled up, followed by Ryan and Esposito, they made sure to take caution (not knowing what was behind the closed doors).

Kate knocked on the door and called, "NYPD." There was no answer so she knocked again and said, "We have a couple of questions for Carlos Yanz." It took another few seconds, but finally the door opened and there stood Yanz. He was shorter fellow, balding, mid 50's, and was wearing some sort of track suit.

"Can I help you fellas?" Yanz asked.

"Detective Kate Beckett, homicide. We have a couple of questions to ask you about the murder of Joe Ingly. "

"Come on in." The building was old and dusty and the only thing that remained was some tables and chairs. There were some other men in the room, but none acknowledged them.

"Actually, this is something we'll need to take you downtown for."

"Mr. Yanz, do you know anything about Joe Ingly?" Beckett asked him as they walked into the interrogation room.

Yanz paused before saying, "I couldn't pick him out of a line up."

"That doesn't answer my question." Yanz didn't say anything further, which indicated he didn't want to talk and incriminate himself. "Okay, how about this: We have some pictures of you visiting a Gerard jewelers shop," She took out the still frame images. "Care to tell me what this was about?"

"I was asking the owner a few questions. I was looking for something."

"I'm guessing it wasn't a pair of diamond earrings for your wife," He said.

"Would this something be a shipment of jewels that were coming in from Africa?" Beckett asked Yanz. "The same jewels that were stolen from the owner of that store a few days after that meeting? The owner of this store told us you were asking about the shipment, so don't lie to me." Yanz simply smiled.

"We have your name making calls to Alan Arkin, one of the men arrested for trying to steal those jewels. Do you know him?" He took the opportunity to ask.

"Not personally."

"But you do know him." Silence.

"Are you familiar with William Cobbstad as well?" Again, silence.

"Do you know this man?" Beckett asked pulling out the sketch artist photo. No one knew who this mystery man was.

"If you're going to continue questioning me, I would like a lawyer," Yanz declared.

"Just one more Mr. Yanz and we'll be on our way: Where were you between the hours of five and seven AM Tuesday morning?"

"Out of town. I was in Chicago."

"Thank you for your time." As they left Yanz in the room, he knew they didn't have enough to hold him, not even for grand theft. Maybe if they were lucky he could be held for something else; quite a crowd had been watching their interrogation. After checking Yanz's alibi, it turned out he really was on a flight back to Chicago during the time of the murder.

"So now what?" He asked Beckett as they walked back to the murder board. "We're back to square one. Yanz was our last lead aside from this potential man the sketch artist drew. For all we know, this guy could have been waiting for someone inside the building and had nothing to do with any of this." Even he was getting a little flustered with this case and it was starting to show.

"I feel it too, Castle, but we can't give up yet. Let's go talk to Montgomery."

They all sat in Montgomery's office rubbing their heads in frustration. Every lead was a dead end. The jewel robbery was more than likely arranged by Yanz, but it was all covered up and there was no proof. And with no proof, there was nothing to convict Yanz for murdering Joe, or prove that he hired someone.

"What do you think we should do next, Sir?" Beckett asked.

"I think we spent so much time trying to solve a jewel robbery that we overlooked some of the normal things we check if it were any other murder. Like, whatever happened to those security cameras the landlord was going to give us? Has anyone talked to Lanie about the body? Is the murder and jewel heist connected? Probably. But crime solving hasn't failed us yet and I'll be damned if it starts now," Montgomery lectured them. "What're you all still sitting here for? Get out of here and solve a murder!"

* * *

So that's what they did: They wen back to the basics. Kate Beckett found that Captain Montgomery's advice was usually spot on, so something was bound to pop up. Ryan and Esposito went back to Joe's apartment to try to find any security cameras, while she and Castle started making phone calls to Joe's family, friends, and even to the officers who were in charge of Joe's release from jail. She forgot that Lanie called and left a voicemail about the body yesterday, so when they got done with that, she called Lanie down in the morgue. Lanie reported that there was no DNA on Joe's body nor was there anything odd about the autopsy. COD was as originally thought, a single gun shot wound to the head.

"Joe was just a healthy man who made a bad decision to get mixed up with the wrong people," Castle declared after she relayed Lanie's information.

"Yeah, well here in New York City, that's the type of stuff that gets you killed," She replied leaning back in her chair. Her phone began ringing and she answered it to find Esposito on the other line. He and Ryan had been gone an hour and half now so she was grateful to hear anything at this point.

"You're in luck," Esposito told her. "The building itself didn't have any cameras, but we managed to get a hold of an owner of a building across the street from Joe's apartment. He's flying back from Cleveland tonight, so we can get the footage first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright, thanks guys." She hung up and rubbed her eyes. She could feel the strain on them from the last couple of days. They had to solve this for Joe. She wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Castle, and he wouldn't be here if it weren't for Joe. The harder all of this got, the more personal it was becoming for her. Even Castle was feeling flustered, which wasn't a side she saw of him very often.

"Hey, are you alright?" Castle asked as he came up behind her at the murder board.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need some coffee," She lied.

"One coffee, coming right up."

"You don't have to…" She trailed off as he was already booking it to the break room. She didn't really need more coffee, but it made one less trip she had to take in her heels. Lanie just had to convince her to get the black leather boots...

When Ryan and Esposito got back to the precinct, they came bearing Chinese food for dinner. It was very much welcome since lunch had been two chocolate chip cookies and a root beer. As they sat down to eat the food, they tried to plan their next move. After getting warrants for the court records (like who booked and released Joe), the only other thing they could agree on was that they would have to wait to see the security footage for more information. Ryan and Esposito scurried out (probably to go meet up with their significant others), while she and Castle took their time finishing up the food.

"Hey, I have an idea," Castle piped up. "Alexis and I just bought about half of the ice cream selection at the corner store for Super Sundae night this weekend-you can take a stab at which day you think it is. Want to get a head start and taste test some of them with us?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Ice cream was a secret delight, after all...

"C'mon, you know you want to try some Mocha Mocha Moo or Cherry Caramel delight…Some will be delicious, some will be disgusting. We'll laugh, we'll cry, and then we'll wake up tomorrow and want absolutely nothing to do with ice cream for a week. What do you say?"

"I don't think I could ever be sick of ice cream. It's a girl thing."

"You clearly need to come to Super Sundae then. Is that a yes?" He asked hopefully.

Two hours later, she found herself sprawled out on Castle's couch with a bowl of ice cream in one hand and glass of red wine in the other. Castle wasn't kidding when he said he and Alexis bought half of the ice cream selection; she counted and they had tried fifteen different flavors. She was utterly stuffed, but it was the best way to unwind for the day. Even Alexis and Martha joined in on the festivities and they all had a good time together. She couldn't admit it to anyone (at least not yet anyway), but the sweetest part of the evening was when Castle kissed her cheek as they bid goodnight.

**A/N: Thanks for reading as always! **


	12. Flash

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 12: Flash**

**A/N: Alright here's a big chapter coming your way. Hope you all enjoy and leave a review :)**

"Yo Castle, you're just in time to watch the latest episode of world's worst security camera footage: The Joe Ingly story," Esposito called to Castle as he entered the bull pen the next morning.

"What hideous attire will people be sporting today? 80's short shorts? Banana hammocks? Fanny packs?" Castle asked as he leaned over Esposito's shoulder. Castle and the guys had made a game out of watching security footage. They tried to point out the oddest people they could find, add their own captions to conversations, and whatever else they could think of. It was childish, sure. But she'd watched her fair share of security footage and knew firsthand it was a long and tedious process. Truth be told, some of the stuff they came up with was pretty funny; About a month ago, Castle had a whole monologue going about a hobo that lived on a bench in front of that vic of the time's apartment.

"Well if it gives us a clear shot of our killer, we'll be calling it the world's best footage," She corrected them. "Good morning, Castle."

"Good morning, Detective, guys," He replied handing her the usual coffee. God knows that was needed. She didn't get home from Castle's until midnight, and then she was up by seven o clock to get here by eight. She sifted through some of Joe's court documents. Whoever shot Joe was keeping tabs on him and knew he'd been released from jail. It was entirely possible it was someone who worked in the system. Yanz had people everywhere, so it also could have been an insider of the jail who tipped him off, just like someone had most likely done with the jewels. But she liked the first idea, because that way was more likely to give her a murderer to put behind bars.

"Alright, let's start looking at the footage the day Joe was released, which was…a week ago today. You know the deal: Look for anyone suspicious and pay close attention to our kill zone," She instructed.

"You're not going to watch with us?" Ryan asked.

"Call me if you find anything. I'm going to go run through these arraignment files again." She retreated back to her desk to leave the three boys to themselves. She needed the alone time to think anything through that they missed, and with those personal Castle thoughts that kept popping up...

"Beckett!" Ryan called breaking her out of her thoughts a while later. "You should see this." She walked over to the guys and leaned over Castle's shoulder. She'd be lying if she didn't think for one second about how nice he smelt today.

"Do we have our guy?" She asked.

"Not quite…" Ryan trailed off as he rewound some of the footage. "Here we are at 5:30AM," Ryan explained as they put the footage into play. "You can make out a man that is most likely the one Joe's neighbor gave to the sketch artist. He hung outside the building a good half an hour before going into it, but here's the catch…he never comes out."

"He must have gone out an emergency exit," Castle said.

"Are we sure he's not a friend of anyone in the building or something? How do we know that's our guy?" She questioned as she moved closer to the screen for a better look.

"The only ones who went in and out of the building during our two hour time frame are the neighbors that told us they did," Esposito explained. "We kept count." Ryan put the video in fast forward to watch the scattered people run in and out of the building.

She sighed and walked over to the murder board, staring at all the evidence, the timeline, and the photos. None of this added up. The longer she stared at all of this, the more it made her want to kick the damn thing over. There was a reason they couldn't see the face of the suspicious looking man, and it wasn't because it was dark outside; this man knew about the possibility of security cameras and how police would go looking for them after he killed the man. There were no prints because anywhere because the murder was planned and carefully done. It was done by a professional.

"You're thinking something," Castle said as he came to stand beside her.

"I'm thinking that we're running out of options," She replied with a sigh.

"We can still go back to the building and check the emergency exits. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a building with a camera that caught something," Castle suggested.

Smiling she told Castle, "Thanks for the optimism. It's a slim margin, but so is waiting for Cobbstad or Arkin to give us a call back." They both laughed a bit at that one. "Castle, if we don't find anything…"

"I'll buy you a pony." It was little lines like that in a stressful situation like this when she was grateful that Castle was around.

"Hey guys, grab your information on the neighbors and let's head out to Joe's apartment," She called to the guys. "Re-check your stories with the neighbors, survey every inch of the building. If we re-trace our steps, sometimes we get lucky."

When they reached Joe's apartment, she and Castle decided to survey the area surrounding the building, while Ryan and Esposito went inside to talk to neighbors again. As she had turned around after giving the instructions, she smacked into a man who was walking on the sidewalk.

"Sorry," they both said as she turned around to apologize. When she saw his face, something clicked in her head. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. He was tall, probably around six feet. He had short brown hair and brown eyes, and he had a striking resemblance the serial killer who blew up her house (but that wasn't what was familiar about him). Was it a victim's family member? No, Castle called her the human encyclopedia because she could remember almost every person she'd ever told bad news to (and it was a large number). Was he a waiter? Taxi driver? Bartender?

"No problem, Detective," The man smiled and replied as he continued on his way before she could ponder who he was.

"Jeez, Beckett, watch where you're going," Castle nagged as he spun and knocked the bags out of a lady's hands who was entering the building.

"You were saying?" She asked raising her eyebrows.

"I'm…just going to go over here," He pointed his thumbs behind him after he picked up the bag of groceries and apologized.

"Good idea. C'mon, let's go check alternate exits before we cause any mass chaos." Inside the apartment, there was one elevator and one staircase in the back of the building, which was also the only other way out. Once you head out the exit, it leads to an alleyway with a couple of giant dumpsters and a fence that separates that building with another apartment building behind it.

"Let's go see if any of the apartments that face this way have any cameras or saw anything," She said to Castle. She texted Ryan and Esposito to let them know where they'd be and they headed over that way.

They passed the man she ran into for a second time as they entered the other apartment building. She found it strange, but she didn't think anything of it at the moment. They talked to a few of the tenants, but most of them said the same thing: "I was sleeping" or "I was getting ready for work" and "I didn't see anything." They were about to call it quits when Ryan and Esposito texted them asking to meet them outside of Joe's apartment. As they headed back, she caught the guy staring their direction and walking the opposite way for a third time, and that's when it hit her.

"Castle, where's the file with the pictures from the murder board?" She asked as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it? Did you forget something?" Castle asked as he handed her the folder he was carrying. She hurriedly flipped through the papers until she found the drawing from the sketch artist. That's when her thoughts were confirmed: The man looked exactly like that drawing.

"It's him," She whispered to Castle as she turned around to see where he'd gone. "Castle, that's our guy." When she locked eyes with the man through the crowd, that's when all hell broke loose.

The man reached into his overly large coat pocket, and she pulled Castle down to the sidewalk. Shots rang through the air and people screamed and ran for cover. She was stepped on and pushed and shoved before she was able to pull out her gun. Before she could fire back, a flash grenade went off and smoke filled the area. She ducked down once again to shield herself and called out, "Castle?" She had to make sure he was alright and that he wasn't shot and she didn't know about it. When she didn't get an answer, she looked up to realize that though it was smoky, she could no longer see him. They must have been separated from the chaos of everyone around them. After all, people were running around screaming that they were being bombed and thought this was another terrorist attack.

She tried to make her way out of the smoke as it began to clear, hoping she might catch a glimpse of where their man went or where Castle was. From her experience, the flash grenades were used to create a diversion. The man had been watching them since they reached the apartment and god knows how long before that, and he even called her "Detective." So what was he trying to do?

"NYPD, I need everyone to stay calm!" She heard Esposito calling out. "This is NOT a terrorist attack. I repeat, this is not a terrorist attack." As the smoke began to dissipate, she could make out Ryan and Esposito standing by their car trying to calm frantic people down. However, Castle was still nowhere to be found.

"Ryan! Esposito!" She ran up to them.

"Beckett! Are you all right?" Esposito asked as he sat one shaken lady on the curb.

"I'm fine. Have you seen Castle?"

"Castle? We thought he was with you?" Ryan asked he and Esposito looked to each other.

"He was until the flash grenade…oh no…" She exclaimed as she frantically turned around to canvas the area.

"Beckett, what's going on?" Esposito asked looking confused. Looking around, no one seemed to be injured but they were all pretty shaken up. Any taxis and cars that had been driving by were slowly beginning to make their way to whatever destination they were heading towards in the first place. She walked away without responding to Esposito and pulled out her phone, even though she wasn't surprised there wasn't an answer when she dialed Castle's number.

"Please pick up, Rick," She muttered to herself. She dialed three more times before she got so angry that she was shaking and dropped it. He wouldn't just leave in the midst of all of that. He would've stayed to make sure she was okay…

"Beckett? We wanted you and Castle to meet us because we think we know who the killer is," Ryan informed her coming up behind her.

"I know who it is too," She replied without turning to look at them. "And they just took Castle."


	13. Transformation

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 13: Transformation**

**A/N: Just wanted to say a quick thanks for the reviews and the interest you all have showed in the story! **

Captain Roy Montgomery had watched Kate Beckett transform from a rookie reading her mother's case files in a records room to the best homicide detective he'd ever seen. He had watched her as she put everything she had into her solving her mother's murder, only to drown in the high waters, and he had watched as she swam her way back to the surface. He had watched her transform into a beautiful young woman, and he became one of the exceptions to Beckett's close to the vest rule…until Richard Castle came along.

When Richard Castle started shadowing Kate, he slowly but surely watched her change; she used to be closed off and all she cared about was work. She didn't play Castle's games or spin theory with him, and she hardly let anyone in aside from ME Lanie Parish. The changes first began when Kate started throwing some witty remarks back at Castle when they were solving a case. Then, they started bouncing ideas off of each other and finishing each other's sentences. Trust was broken and re-built, and before he knew it, they had become a partnership; defying the rules to seek justice and relying on each other in more ways than just the workplace.

In his office now, it killed Roy to see Kate like this; solemn, fidgety, and eyes red lined with tears that could fall at any moment. He saw a normally strong woman fighting to hold it together, fearing anyone would think less of her if for just one moment she let the world see how she was feeling. Seeing Kate now, he realized she had finally transformed into someone in love.

He remembered that day in his office when he had told Kate that Richard Castle was going to be around indefinitely; she had been stunned and couldn't believe what she was hearing. If he had also told her that three years down the road she will have fallen in love with that man, he would be a dead man.


	14. Lost

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 14: Lost...**

**A/N: Hey all, this chapter is long but some juicy stuff coming your way :) Normally I would update tomorrow, but my wisdom teeth are coming out and I probably won't have the chance to update this weekend. Enjoy as always!**

She had failed him. She was his partner and had one job: protect him. She was supposed to make sure that he was okay, that he was right there besides her and out of harm's way, and she had failed. He was in the arms of someone else now; someone they didn't know who they were, where they were at, or what they were capable of. Bottom line: He wasn't here with her and she needed him to be.

She had done a lot of thinking, and she had come to the conclusion that the first time Cobbstad and Arkin ambushed them in the park, it was on their own terms and because they were intent on getting those jewels back. This time, she was almost positive it was because they had spooked Carlos Yanz. When they hauled him into the station, he knew they were closing in on him, so he called up his guy and ordered him to keep an eye on her and Castle while he was being held for questioning. When he realized they knew who he was, that's when everything went all screwy.

After helping uniforms search the area and talk to as many witnesses as possible, she found herself sitting in Captain Montgomery's office. Ryan and Esposito tried to make her ride with them back to the precinct, but they had no such luck; she put up a fight because she needed be in control of something, even if it was just her car. She had such a mix of emotions and didn't know what to do with herself (which was probably why they didn't trust her driving), but alas here she was.

How was she supposed to explain this to Martha and Alexis? How was she supposed to tell them that Castle went missing under her watch? This was the second time this happened in a week and a half! They would never want to speak with her or see her again, and they would never forgive her, especially if something happened to him. She could never forgive herself...She didn't think she could do it; she barely held it together when she, Ryan, and Esposito met with Montgomery to explain the situation. She would have to be strong and sturdy when she broke the news to them, but right now she was quite the opposite.

"Beckett," Montgomery said as he reentered the room after he escorted Ryan and Esposito out. She sat up in her chair and looked to him. "I want to tell you that this case is too close to you and that you need to go home. However, you and I both know that's not going to happen. I've never been able to keep you on a leash, but if you really don't think you can hold it together to bring Castle back safely and close this case once and for all, then I'm going to have to ask you to stand down. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," She answered.

"Everyone is on deck for this one. This bastard isn't going to get away with murdering Joe Ingly and taking one of our own. Ryan and Esposito are running data bases to get a name on our guy. Now that we know our sketch artist drawing is a real person, we've sent that to all the other departments and are getting word out on the street," He explained to her.

"Should we call his family? Do we tell them what's going on before we even know ourselves?" She asked referring to Castle. Rick. She didn't even want to say his name right now, just because she didn't know which one to use.

"His family deserves to know what's going on, but I don't want to worry them yet if we don't have to. I'll leave that up to you."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she found her voice saying, "Roy…" and looking to him. She needed some sort of reassurance, some sort of answer to tell her that everything was going to be alright. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her, not yet anyway.

"We're going to get him back, Kate. Are you up for this?" He asked as he handed her his flask.

She took a swig of the scotch and answered, "Yes."

"What's your first move going to be?" He asked as he took his flask back. She had been thinking about it, and it wasn't until now that it was crystal clear what she wanted to do next.

"I have someone I need to have a talk with. Call if you need me." She grabbed her jacket and keys and walked out of his office. Ryan and Esposito weren't far away and called for her as she began walking towards the elevator. "Unless you have a name for me, or found Castle, I don't want to hear it right now," She called back as she climbed in the elevator. The doors closed before she could look up and see their faces.

* * *

An hour later, she found herself at the same table at the jail when she visited here a few days ago, only this time, Castle wasn't with her. The guards came in with William Cobbstad and sat him down and cuffed him to the table as they had done before, and one guard retreated to the back while one went to wait outside the door.

"Actually, can you step outside too?" She asked the guard in the corner. She needed to get answers out of this guy, and if it was just the two of them, she might have better luck. The guard didn't seem too thrilled, but she was pretty sure the look on her face said, "Don't mess with me," so he exited the room.

There was a reason she chose to see William Cobbstad over Alan Arkin. Last time, Cobbstad was the one who didn't talk, which meant he probably had more to say. If he kept his mouth shut, it was also because he didn't want to say something he shouldn't. Arkin was willing to play along and slide through the interview, which meant he would never break; he would never give her the answers she so desperately sought.

"I told myself I wasn't going to come back here," She started out saying. "I told myself that I didn't want to see your face again unless I was testifying against you in court, yet here I am. The reason why I'm here this time isn't all about who you're working for, and it's not about how you tried to kill me in the park. My partner is missing, and all I'm asking is for name: tell me who Carlos Yanz hired to kill off Joe. Mr. Cobbstad, it's just you and I in here and whatever you say will not leave this room, do you understand? If you give me a name, I will spare you from the death penalty and never bother you again." He seemed interested in hearing what she had to say this time, enough so where he turned around to make sure that they really were alone. "You may not deserve it, but I can help you if you'll let me. I'll leave you alone to mull things over."

She got up and walked outside, telling the guards that she would be back in ten. She pulled out her cell phone to see that she had two missed calls from Ryan and Esposito, and two from Lanie. Word was sure to have gotten around by now, and it only made sense that Lanie called to see how she was holding up.

When she was discharged from the hospital after the incident in the park, Lanie stayed with her the two days following. They had grown rather distant lately, so it made for the perfect opportunity to catch up on everything. One specific conversation they had was about Castle's actions after he pulled her out of the water.

"Esposito tells me that Castle didn't leave your side from the time he pulled you out of the water until the time he dropped you off here," Lanie had said as the two of them sat on her couch with some hot chocolate.

"Yeah and…"

"That's all you have to say? Girl, spill it! And by it, I mean tell me everything that happened during that time frame! There has to be some juicy stuff you're holding back!" She confirmed Lanie's statement and told her how loyal and sweet he had been by being there for her, but she left out the part about the holding hands thing and their brief conversation in the ambulance. If she told her about those, she would go telling Esposito and things would only escalate from there. Some things were better left to herself.

"Kate, when are you going to let Castle all the way in? Josh has been out of the picture for a while now, so what's holding you back?" Lanie had asked. She hadn't been able to give Lanie an answer then so Lanie just smiled and said, "Mhm hm, that's what I thought," and left it at that.

What was holding her back? The answer should have been nothing. She had been scared of the feelings she had for Castle for the longest time and scared that he knew her so well. But that was before she got to know him, the real Richard Castle (or should she say Richard Alexander Rodgers?) He had proved himself in so many high pressure situations and proved that he wasn't a nine year old on a sugar rush like she originally thought. He was a man who was passionate, funny, smart, a writer and a father. He helped her re-discover who Kate Beckett really was and he was her partner; it wasn't until now that she knew that term was true in more ways than one.

She looked at her watch to see her ten minutes were up and that she had to get back to William Cobbstad. She entered the room and said nothing as she sat back down across from him and stared the man, hoping his answer would be a good one.

"So what's it going to be?" She asked. He looked like he was still wrestling with his decision, but she couldn't sit around waiting for this guy to make one. She was wasting precious seconds that could be used to find Castle. She could beg and plead for this guy to give her the answers, but that would be unprofessional. If she lost it now, he would never be found alive. "Well, if that's how it's going to be, I'm done here," She declared as she got up from the table and headed for the door.

It was when she put her hand on the knob when she heard him say, "Urbain."

"What was that?" She turned around in disbelief, not sure what he was saying or what "Urbain" even meant.

"Scott Urbain." It was a name. _The _name she'd been looking for. She wasn't going to get anything else out of this, so she simply made eye contact and nodded her head as if to say 'thanks.'

As soon as she was in her car she called Esposito back at the precinct. He answered on the first ring.

"Scott Urbain. Look him up, find out who he is, find an address, and anything else you can. I'm on my way back."

"We're on it," Esposito replied. End of conversation. She was glad he didn't even question how she knew it.

As soon as she returned, Ryan and Esposito rushed to greet her with stacks of papers in their hand.

"Scott Urbain, forty-seven years old. He has an apartment in Jersey and another one in Manhattan. Past convictions include assault, attempted robbery, and some DUI charges," Ryan rattled off as they continued walking to their murder board. Just because murder wasn't on there didn't mean he wasn't capable of it.

"Is this our guy?" Montgomery asked as he came running up behind them.

"Yes," She simply said as she taped the picture Esposito was holding to the murder board.

"What are the odds of him actually being at either of his apartments?" Esposito asked.

"Slim to none, but let's check anyway. Esposito, get on the phone with the local police department in Jersey and send someone over to check the house once the warrant gets through. We'll be wasting time if we do it ourselves. Ryan, I want you to get on the phone and get that warrant and a warrant for his apartment here in the city," She instructed. They nodded and hurried off.

So how were they supposed to find Scott Urbain? If he took Castle, he obviously wanted something in return. Was it the jewels or was it something else? Would they make contact with the NYPD or would they wait for her to come to them? Whenever she had been in sticky situations before, Castle would tap into that creative mind of his and they would bounce ideas off of each other until something clicked. Maybe the trick to finding a murderer was to think like a mystery writer? How hard could it be, right?

If she were a murderer looking for somewhere to hide out, where would she go? Somewhere abandoned or in a less populated area. And in order to do that, she would have to know a place or know someone that would help hide her. None of that narrowed her search down. She knew very little about Scott Urbain, therefore it was hard to get into his mind. Whether William Cobbstad knew it or not, he had admitted he worked for Carlos Yanz by not denying anything she stated. If Yanz had been released, he would be brought back in, and if he hadn't, she could officially charge him with so much more than murder.

"Hey, Beckett," Esposito called as he held the phone away from his ear. "I just talked to Urbain's landlord, and he said that no one has been to the Jersey apartment in months."

"Thanks, but it doesn't mean we won't find something of value. As soon as the warrants come in we'll head over to search his other place," She replied. But by then it could be too late. She needed to take action now. As her phone came to life on her desk she quickly picked it up and answered, "Beckett."

"Missing something?" The voice on the other line asked. Her head snapped up to Ryan and Esposito and she motioned for them to get a trace. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that it was Scott Urbain. "Or should I say someone?" He rephrased.

"What do you want from us, Scott? Where is Richard Castle?"

"Don't worry, Detective. I have your writer safe and sound with me."

"Prove it."

There was some rustling and whispering before she heard Castle's sweet voice say, "Kate?"

"Rick…" Was all she could bring herself to say. She knew she was smiling, but she didn't care. He was alive, which was the important thing. Her mind went blank and she was sure if she said anything else the tears that were forming in her eyes would escape, her voice would crack, and she would lose it. By the time she wanted to say something, anything else, Scott was back on the line.

"Let's make a deal: meet me in the warehouse behind The Tavern. I'll give you back your writer if you give me one thing," Scott told her.

"I have to know what it is in order for it to be a fair trade," She replied back slowly.

"Well why don't I let you think it over and I'll get back to you?" And with that the line went dead.

"Scott! Rick!" She called out, hoping for some kind of answer, but there was nothing. As quickly as the call came in it was gone. She slammed the phone down and immediately looked to Ryan and Esposito.

"He's not at The Tavern now; he's at another storage unit a few blocks away. We traced his call to a payphone in the building," Ryan quickly answered as Esposito scribbled down the address.

"Let's assemble back up and go," She said sternly. "Get someone to answer my phone if it rings. We can't tip him off that we're on our way." As the guys ran off and she rounded up her things, Captain Montgomery hurried over to her.

"Beckett, I'm coming with you on this. Someone has to have your back," Montgomery said to her.

"And we don't already have that covered?" Esposito asked as he and Ryan turned and look to him. Montgomery didn't say anything and nodded to both. At that moment, she couldn't have been prouder of her "brothers."


	15. And found

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 15: ...And Found**

"Are we all clear on what the plan is?" Kate heard Captain Montgomery ask over the radio in her car.

"Crystal," Ryan and Esposito replied from their car. An echo of "diddo's" followed. The plan was as followed: She, Ryan, and Esposito were going to go into the warehouse they traced Scott's call to and look for Castle, while Montgomery and some other officers stayed at The Tavern in case Scott and his team already relocated to their second location or in case they needed back up.

"I've got it from here, Captain," She assured him. "Let's go." Already in their bullet proof vests and armed, she, Ryan, and Esposito exited their cars and made their way into the abandoned looking building.

When they walked in, the place was huge; it was one giant space with outlines of where builders would have divided it up into separate rooms. There were multiple staircases leading to what appeared to be a second level and there were three doors scattered about, each on one of the walls. The place was dark and dusty, tbere were no windows aside from the front doors, and it definitely looked like a shady hangout. She briefly wondered how often this place had been used for drug trafficking or criminal hideouts before now. They cleared the room and decided as risky as it was, they should probably split up to cover more ground.

"Beckett, are you sure about this?" Ryan asked.

"It looks like all these doors branch off into other rooms and possible the surrounding buildings. It would take too long to look in each one individually," She and the guys quietly discussed. "We would be wasting too much time."

"You want to take the downstairs and we'll take the upstairs?" Esposito asked.

"Turn down your phones and don't call unless absolutely necessary." They nodded and went their separate ways.

The door on the right was the first one she tried. If Castle were with her, he would be guessing what could possibly lie behind the closed door and telling her opening it would ruin the suspense. She closed her eyes as she slowly opened the door and opened them at the same time she hoisted up her gun. The room was as big as a bathroom stall and the only thing sitting in it was a broken mirror. How anticlimactic. She smiled a little thinking about how Castle probably would have also said the same thing.

After checking out another closet-like room, the only other remaining door was the one at the very back of the room. This one had a little window, and as she peered through it, the connecting room was about at large as this one, only it was filled with boxes and crates. There was a receiving door in the back of that one like the kind that opened for trucks to pick up or drop off their things. There also appeared to be a cat walk that circled it, which must be where the second floor leads out to. The door handle creaked as she opened it and she cringed, afraid that any little noise would give her position away, either harming herself, Ryan or Esposito, or Castle.

She began making her way through the room, carefully maneuvering so she didn't knock anything over, and whenever she re-emerged from behind giant stacks, she always did a full scan of the room. Her phone began to vibrate and she immediately pulled it out of her pocket, because even something so faint sounded like a freight train.

"The upstairs is clear," Esposito said on the other line. "There have definitely been people here because there are three cots set up with some blankets and clothes. Where are you?"

"The door on the far end of the bottom floor leads to a joining warehouse with boxes and crates. There should even be a way that leads to it from up there," She replied quietly as she looked up to a doorway.

"We saw that, but there's only a partially built stairway to get from up here to down there. We'll be there in a few."

As she went to hang up her phone, all of a sudden she heard, "Detective Beckett, what a surprise." Scaring her, she dropped her phone and turned around with her gun aimed to find Scott Urbain facing her with a gun in his hand. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I would have thought you heard me come in. Well, if you hadn't been on your phone that is."

"Where is Richard Castle?" She asked nervously. If Scott knew she was down here, she hoped Ryan and Esposito were out of harm's way.

"I can't tell you that…yet. You haven't heard what I want out of all of this."

"Alright, then tell me what it is you want." She made eye contact with him and was going to make sure she kept his eyes on her at all times. If she kept eye contact, that meant she would be able to read his moves before they happen; she would be in his mind. All of sudden the doors behind her open and she heard Ryan and Esposito say, "Whoa!" And the safety's click off their guns.

"I see you brought a couple of friends. You may think I'm outnumbered three to one, but here's a little secret: I have friends too," Scott said as three armed men emerged up on the cat walk from a door opposite the way Ryan and Esposito had been. Crap.

"What do you want, Scott?" She asked again. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of something. At first she thought she was seeing things, but when it happened again she realized it was not something but some_one _peeking out from behind a stack of boxes.

"Here's the thing, I actually already have what I want right in front of me: You." She felt a chill run down her spine as he said that. The smirk on his face and the way he said it was so eerie and she honestly felt like he could just shoot her then and there.

Without averting her eyes, she saw the figure behind Scott move again, and this time she knew exactly who it was: Castle.

Relief flooded her and she wanted to take a deep breath, smile, and run over to him and jump into his arms. But if she even she did so much as look at him, she would give him away and it would all be over. She would have to play dumb and buy time until something could be done. She knew the guys had to have seen him too, and she hoped that their telepathic cop powers would connect and they were thinking the same thing as her.

"That's why you called, isn't it?" She asked. "You knew if you didn't finish the phone conversation I would come running, is that it?"

"It's about time you figured it out," He smiled. "Don't take it personal, Detective, I'm just doing my job."

"The job you were hired to do by Carlos Yanz, is that right?" She could see that Castle was carefully moving from stack to stack, trying to get closer to Scott. She noticed he was holding something and knew it had to be a gun. Where did get that from? And why was his jacket buttoned all the way up?

"Now I can see why you were chosen to be Richard Castle's muse," He replied.

"I'll tell you what, Scott: If you let Richard Castle go, you can have me. I'm all yours," She said trying to buy time. If she was right, Castle was trying to get close enough to shoot Scott himself. God knows even if she wasn't looking for a stall, she would take a bullet for him anyway; he had saved her life in more ways than one and god knows she owed him.

"Is that what you want, Detective?"

"Yes," She firmly stated. A sly smile crept across Scott Urbain's face, she knew whatever he was thinking couldn't be good. In one fluent motion, Scott whipped around so his back was facing her. She remembered hearing herself yell, "No!" and then two gun shots rang through the air followed by three more rounds, one of which came from her own gun. Two bodies crumpled to the floor, one of which was Scott's. The other was one of their own.

She don't know why she did what she did next; the cop inside her was telling her to stay where she was at and get a hold of the situation, but she ended up listening to the Kate Beckett side of her instead and start running across the warehouse as soon as Castle's body hit the floor. All she could think about was getting to his side as she leapt over boxes and gunfire whizzed past her head. Before she knew it, someone had knocked her off course and they were rolling off into a stack of boxes.

"Let go!" She cried fighting against them as they tried to cover her head. "I need to get to him! Please…" She was begging and the tears were beginning to fall.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Esposito yelled as Ryan took a shot and hit the remaining gunman from Scott's team. "I know it's Castle over there but geez, Beckett…you were like a bird at a shooting range!" He let go of her and she quickly found her footing and ran to Castle's side, the guys on her heels.

"This is Detective Esposito; we have an officer down…" She heard Esposito call as he ran behind her. She dropped to her knees and let her shaky hands roam over Castle. He was unconscious and she couldn't tell if he was breathing at first. She began looking for the entry wound, only to discover she couldn't find it at first glance.

"We got him…Scott Urbain's dead," Ryan declared somewhere behind her.

"Where?" She whispered as she tried to figure out what was going on. As she peeled back Castle's buttoned black blazer, she expected to find his light blue dress shirt covered in his pooling blood. To her surprise, she discovered that Castle was wearing a bullet proof vest, and smack dab in the middle of it was the bullet hole and the bullet itself.

At first, she couldn't believe it. It wasn't until she heard Ryan say in disbelief, "He's wearing a vest…He's wearing a goddamn vest!" That the three of them fell silent. She let out a huge sigh, closed her eyes, and clasped one hand over her mouth and used the other to take his right hand. She let one tear fall, then another, and another, and soon enough she was crying to the point where she could barely even breathe. Everything that she had been feeling over the course of the day poured out—the worry, the anger, and relief—and this time there was no filter.

A strong pair of hands fell onto her shoulders moments before the rest of the team burst into the warehouse. Were they Ryan's? Espositio's? Maybe both?

"Hey Beckett, they need to check him out," Ryan softly told her. She didn't want to leave Rick—in fact it was killing her to do it—but she nodded and turned her head away as she took Ryan's stretched out hand and got up off the floor.

She walked away without saying a word to anyone and without looking back at Rick. She didn't want anyone else to see her like this, and if she watched them check over him, she wouldn't be able to regain her already broken self.

Originally she was going to just keep her distance near the back of the warehouse so she could be present if needed, but when the room started feeling like it was caving in around her and that everyone was watching the normally strong detective break down, she decided to step outside. It was dark out now, getting late, and it was a little on the chilly side. But it wasn't the weather that was bothering her.

She had come so close to losing Rick that even though she wanted nothing more than to be with him at that moment—holding his hand and waiting by his side until he woke up—she couldn't bear to be with him either; she felt like it was her fault that he ended up in this whole mess in the first place, and if she allowed herself to get too close, it would all be yanked away from her like it almost had been today.

She had managed to pull herself together by the time Esposito came out looking for her. He said, "Hey Beckett, he just woke up and is asking for you." She turned and nodded to him, letting him know she heard what he said, but her feet didn't move.

"Is he...alright?" She asked looking to him.

"Come find out for yourself. Are you coming?" Esposito asked her motioning to go back in the building. When she didn't respond he went on to say, "C'mon, don't do this, Beckett. Don't run away now. After going through all the trouble to get Castle back, you're honestly going to tell me you don't want to be in there with him?"

"I just need some space," She replied softly.

"Well don't take too long, alright? They're about to load him up and get him checked out at the hospital," And with that, Esposito walked away. _Oh Rick_, she thought, _please forgive me…_

**A/N: There's ch. 15 for you! I hope you all enjoyed. I had a hard time deciding where I wanted this chapter to end and what to save for the next, so hopefully this wasn't too long for everyone. Thanks for reading!**


	16. Realizations

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 16: Realizations**

As Detective Javier Esposito walked back into the warehouse where the shootout just occurred, he was frustrated to put it nicely. He had watched Kate Beckett pine for Richard Castle and spend the entire day trying to figure out how to get him back from their murderer, only to watch her turn away in his time of need. For god's sake, he had to throw himself at her just so she didn't kill herself trying to get to Castle. What made now any different?

When Scott Urbain turned around and shot Castle, he, Ryan, and Beckett's instincts were all in synch as they too fired at that sonofabitch. When Castle's body crumpled with Scott's, they all sprang into action. He knew right away that Beckett wasn't going to stay put until they took out Scott's followers, and it was after Ryan cried, "What's she doing? She's going to get herself killed!" He knew he had to do something. Ryan began taking out the guys on the cat walk as he raced after Beckett and took her out of harm's way. She fought him hard, but as much as he wanted to make sure Castle was okay too, he couldn't watch Beckett take a bullet either.

He was almost positive that he or Ryan was going to have to pry Beckett away from Castle once she reached him, but that was until they found out Castle was wearing a bullet proof vest. Why the hell was it so difficult for the two of them to just be together? Just because Castle wasn't in grave danger anymore, why did that have to change how Beckett was feeling?

"Where is she?" Castle immediately asked as he found Esposito in the crowd of officers. Some were zipping up Scott Urbain's dead body, others were tending to the wounded members of his team, and another set was taking pictures and setting up the crime scene tape.

"She stepped out for a minute, she'll be right back," He told Castle, hoping that he wasn't lying.

"Is she alright?" Castle fired another question as the paramedics struggled to sit him still to take his blood pressure. He had awakened panicky and asking for Beckett, not even caring he had his own bullet mark on his chest right now.

"Beckett is fine, just sit back and let them help you, bro," He assured Castle. "Scott is dead and Carlos Yanz is in jail, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Is Beckett really coming back?" Ryan whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, why?" He whispered back as he looked back to his partner.

"Because she just drove off in her car." Damn it.

* * *

Kate wasn't sure where she was going to go when she got into her car and drove away from the warehouse, but she knew she couldn't stay there. Castle was probably going to hate her, and Ryan and Esposito wouldn't be the happiest either, but she couldn't see or talk to Rick until she knew what she was going to do or say.

She had made some realizations today, and now that it looked like everyone was going to be alright, these realizations should have made her happy and look forward to whatever is to come. However, she had to make sure that if she decided to follow her heart and take the next step with Castle, it wasn't just because she almost lost him today.

Her cell phone began to ring and she almost let it go to voicemail until she thought it might be something important regarding Castle. As soon as she answered she found Esposito on the other line asking, "Where the hell are you?" She was right, he was pissed.

"Castle's apartment," She stated as she found herself looking up at his apartment building. Up at his loft, Martha and Alexis were probably enjoying a romantic comedy, some ice cream, and girl talk. They would probably get the wrong idea when they answered the door to find her standing there alone, but these were two people she needed to see, that she needed to talk to. Two people she cared a great deal for and whose opinions mattered most. "They need to know."

"Castle called them from the ambulance so they could hear he was alright for themselves, which you would know if you would have come back inside with me." She deserved that. "Is it because Castle isn't in grave danger anymore that you think it's alright to turn the other way and run? Is it because next time there might not _be_ a next time and that scares you? Ryan and I want to help, Beckett, but you're making it pretty damn impossible!"

"It's not that!" She found herself snapping back into the phone. Apparently Esposito had learned a thing or two from Lanie when it came to mouthing off.

"Then what is it? Or is it too close to the vest for you to tell us?" She paused and she heard Ryan ask a couple times for Esposito to give him the phone.

"Beckett," Ryan's much calmer voice sounded over the other line, "Martha is upstairs. Just come to the hospital when you can, alright?" And with that she hung up. She closed her eyes and sighed, because as frustrated as they were with her, they knew she would come here.

As she walked up to Castle's loft, Martha had the door open and was waiting for her before she could even knock.

"Please, Kate, come in and have a seat," Martha said as she ushered her in with a smile.

"Thanks, Martha," She replied rather confusedly. "I'm sorry, but why aren't you at the hospital?"

"The question is why aren't _you?_" Martha said as she pulled the two of them over to the couch in the living room. There was a fire in the fireplace and a couple blankets out as if they had been used at some point in the night. The lights were dimmed down and it was rather comforting despite the reason she was there.

"The guys said Rick called you and…"

"Yes they did, and they also said you might be heading over this way. Alexis decided to go ahead of me in a cab, but something told me the reason you were coming here wasn't just to tell Alexis and I about what happened today." When Martha said this, Kate couldn't help but look to this poised and elegant woman and wonder what she did to deserve this stellar of friendship from her wounded partner's mother.

"No, it's not," She whispered in response to what Martha said.

"Oh, Kate…" Martha said stretching her arms out to put around her shoulders, "Come here." She let herself slide into Martha's arms much like she would with her own mother whenever the two of them were about to have girl talk. "Why don't you tell me why you're really here?" Well, here goes nothing.

"Martha, how do you know when you're in love?" She asked softly.

"Why do you ask?" Martha asked rather than answered.

"Rick once asked me how you knew when you were in love, and my response at the time was, 'when all the songs make sense.' Today, I think if he would have asked me that same question again, I would have given a different response," She started out saying.

"How so?"

"Because today, I couldn't listen to a damn thing on the radio because even the most romantic song in the world sounded like the world's saddest symphony." Martha smiled and encouraged her to go on. "Today, the thought of losing someone was more than I could bear; I thought the person who helped me get through my mother's death—and please don't tell him I said this—wasn't going to be here to help me get through his."

"All day today, I wanted nothing more than to do everything in my power to get Rick back to the safety. I was ready to sacrifice myself for him, but the minute I knew he was going to be alright, all I could think about was getting away. Today, I realized how true of a partner your son really is to me, and then I left him at a crime scene. So if I was asked how I knew I was in love, I wouldn't know how to answer that question, because I'm pretty sure people in love don't leave their partner's alone after a shootout."

"Why did you feel like you had to get away?' Martha asked after hearing everything she had to say.

"Because…it was my fault! I was supposed to protect him! I was supposed to make sure he'd be able to come home tonight to find you and Alexis sitting together on the couch watching a movie! You weren't supposed to find him in a hospital bed trying to keep the press out of his room or worst...And you weren't supposed to have let me in your home and listen to me vent like all of this is okay, because it's not! It can't be…"

"But it can, and you know why?" Martha interrupted. She shook her head. "Because I know that my son loves you. He has for quite some time." He _loves _her? Richard Castle loves _her? _She knew he had feelings for her, but when you phrase it like that, wow. "Kate, you may feel like by showing back up at Richard's side he'll just be put in danger again, but the only threatening thing about that situation is your co-workers, Alexis and myself, and that's because we'll be the ones who have to watch you two act miserable apart! Today, you didn't make a single mistake, so don't beat yourself up over what happened; life is too short to live like that. You did everything in your power and guess what? It paid off, because my son is alive and is going to be just fine." Martha smiled. "You want to know when you're in love? The answer is there is no answer. Only you can know what your heart is feeling. However, after everything you just told me, the answer seems rather clear, doesn't it?"

Martha was absolutely right. The answer was written in red and screaming out at her, and she couldn't ignore it any longer: She, Katherine Beckett, loves Richard Castle. There, she admitted it. That was a big statement, but as she had realized earlier, it was time to stop living in fear. She was scared about what all of this meant, but if she continued to run away from it, then she would be living with the "what if's" and "If only's" for the rest of her life.

"He's not going to want to see me," She finally found the words to speak.

"Something tells me you're the only one he wants to see right now. He may not understand why it took so long, but once you're there none of this will matter," Martha replied squeezing her shoulder. "C'mon, kiddo. We have a cab to catch."


	17. Reunited

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 17: Reunited**

As Kate and Martha entered the waiting room at the hospital, they found Captain Montgomery standing in one corner talking to a couple unknown officers, Alexis and Lanie looking content as they sat in a set of chairs talking, Ryan and Esposito sitting in another set of chairs, and some other people from the precinct. They all turned to look at them when they entered and it took a lot of will power for her to just let them stare.

"Gram!" Alexis exclaimed as she got up and flew into the arms of Martha. She took Kate by surprise when she gave her a hug next.

"Beckett, Martha, glad you guys came," Montgomery was the first to speak as he came up and shook Martha's hand.

"How's Richard?" Martha asked as she smiled and accepted his welcome. How this woman was so calm regarding everything that happened continued to baffle her. Of course, if Castle had actually been seriously injured, her reaction might not have been so cool and collected.

"He's just fine. They're patching him up and then he should be good to go soon," Montgomery replied.

"He's asking for you, Kate," Alexis told her.

"He doesn't want to see anyone else," Esposito added on. She noticed he looked tired, but he didn't look like he was fuming with anger anymore. Maybe Ryan or Lanie helped talk him down.

"Really?" She asked. She was surprised to hear this, especially since his daughter had been here in the waiting room the entire time she was with Martha.

"Well, they let me in to see him briefly, but I know it was you he was hoping to see," Alexis replied.

"Can I see him?" She asked again. She knew that she couldn't avoid seeing him any longer and she just wanted to make everything right.

With Alexis and Martha's blessing, one of the nurses at the desk called her over and took her through the door separating the waiting room from the hospital rooms. She led her down one rather long hallway and turned around the corner. They stopped at the first room on the right and she motioned for her to go in. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, turned the handle, and opened the door. It was there she found Castle sitting on the edge of a hospital bed while a doctor in the room was bandaging his ribs. They both looked up as she entered the room, but when she looked into Castle's blue eyes, everything that she had been feeling flew out the door. All she was feeling now was happiness that he was alive and well.

"Kate," Castle stated as a smile crept across his face. He looked so pitiful with his ruffled hair and the way he had one hand over his ribs protectively.

"I see you have a visitor. I'm done here anyway," The doctor stated. "I'll leave you two alone and come back after I get the results from the rest of the tests."

After the doctor left and the door closed behind him, the first thing she could think of saying was, "hey." How stupid was that? She could have said anything else in the world, like, "I'm so glad you're okay," but no, she went with "hey."

"Hey yourself," Castle replied back.

"They got you all bandaged up?" She asked as she leaned against the doorway crossing her arms. She felt very awkward and wasn't quite sure what they were going to say or do next.

"Yep, I'll be good as new in a couple of weeks. They said the bullet knocked the wind out of me and broke and bruised a few ribs, but it's better than the alternative." So much better.

"You gave us one hell of scare, you know."

"I didn't meant to," He frowned and apologized .

"No, Rick, you shouldn't be the one apologizing," She said as she came over and sat next to him on the bed. "But I should be."

"For what?"

"For taking so long to come around," She answered with a smile and taking his hand. She didn't even have to tell him she meant both now and her feelings for him; by the way he was looking at her, she knew he found the ambiguity in that statement. "Truth be told, today was a rough day. But with a little help, I realized some important things."

"Like what?" He in turn asked as he closed his fingers around her hand.

"Like how I didn't want to lose you," She looked to him and whispered.

He smiled, wrapped his arms around her and asked, "Do you know what I thought when I woke up and you weren't there?" She shook her head, though she was sure it was something alone the lines of 'she hates me.' "I thought that I had been the one who was too late. You said you wanted Scott Urbain to shoot you, and I was fully convinced he was going to do it." How selfish of her; that thought had never crossed her mind.

"So was I," She admitted. "But I would have taken that bullet for you, Rick, and do you know why?"

"You wanted to be the one to shoot me yourself?" He joked with a smirk.

She laughed a bit and said, "Because I want you around for as long as you'll have me. Or until you decide to stop writing Nikki Heat." She laughed and added on, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"It's not about the books anymore, you know," Castle said looking to her. By the tone of his voice and look of his eyes, she knew he was sincere.

"I know, but I don't want to mess with any of that tonight, alright? If we do this, I want to do this right; not because of what happened today. Right now, I know it has been killing you to have had to wait to tell me how you found a gun and vest in the warehouse."

"Fair enough," He smiled to her. Before they could continue, there was a knock at the door and it was Martha and Alexis who peered inside.

"Are you up for some visitors?" Martha asked.

"Sure, come on in, everyone," Castle smiled and motioned. When he took his arms back from around her, she realized how comfortable she felt in them. When the door opened all the way, Martha, Alexis, and Ryan and Esposito, Lanie, and Montgomery all entered the room. Castle kissed his mother and daughter and shook hands with everyone else. "How did you all get back here?" Castle asked.

"Being a Captain at the NYPD has its perks," Montmgery said with a smile.

"Alright, Castle, we're dying to know happened when you were at that warehouse," Esposito said.

"Only you would conveniently find a spare gun and bullet proof vest in a warehouse full of stuff," Ryan added on as the group laughed at that statement.

"First, let me just say this," Castle started saying as he turned to her. "We are never talking to strangers we bump into on the street again."

* * *

An hour later, Castle found himself officially discharged from the hospital and was free to go home. They prescribed him some pain medication and told him his ribs would heal in a few weeks. In the meantime, that meant no chasing down criminals, which was probably just fine with Kate. She hadn't told him—she would never say those exact words to him—but he knew she must have been feeling guilty about everything that happened today. He also knew that she went to talk to his mother, but that could be their little secret for the time being. The truth might come out when she would have to explain why her car was at his apartment in the first place. He chuckled to himself just picturing Kate stuttering and trying to come up with some valid excuse.

While waiting to be discharged, Castle filled everyone in on his tale of being kidnapped: After the flash grenade went off, he was gagged and tranquilized. The next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair in small, dark, and dusty room. Their guy (who he later learned was named Scott Urbain) was on the phone with someone saying how "they" would be fooled and that "they" would never get the truth; he could only infer that he was talking about everyone at the precinct. Scott realized he was awake before he could listen to their conversation any further, and that's when he told him straight up who he was and what his intentions were.

He was left alone for quite some time, which gave him an opportunity to look for a way to escape from the chair and the enclosed room. He found a couple of nails protruding from one of the walls, and with a small test, he learned they were sharp and rusted enough for him to cut through the rope tying his hands together. The opportune moment to finish cutting himself free came after Scott had called the precinct, because Scott and his followers left him alone while they went to wait for the gang to come to them. He could hear the pain in Kate's voice when Scott held the phone to his ear, but oh how it had sounded like angel.

There was so much junk shoved inside the back rooms and hallways that he figured there had to be something worth using if his attackers came back for him. He unintentionally found the bullet proof vest while sorting through some of boxes of crap. It couldn't hurt wearing it since his was in Kate's car. He then found one room with a desk and computer, and it looked to be where Scott had been hiding out due to the piles of clothes, blankets, and food wrappers lying around. The desk was locked, but by using a paperclip, he managed to pick it the lock, open the drawer, and find another hand gun. Bingo.

When he heard voices coming from the main warehouse, he peered through the doors to see Scott and Kate aiming guns at one another. One of the back ways into the warehouse was through a set of swing doors where you pushed them and they opened. They didn't have a handle or anything on them; therefore they didn't cause any noise when he entered and didn't think anyone saw him.

"What do you want, Scott?" Kate had asked. It had been so nice to hear her voice and have her in the same vicinity. He found himself peeking around a stack of boxes, because he knew if he just saw her face, then he would be able to figure out his next move.

"Here's the thing, I actually already have what I want right in front of me: You," Scott had replied to her. When he said that, he knew exactly what he had to do: Get to Kate before Scott got her first.

He started maneuvering his way trying to get closer to Scott Urbain to get a clear shot. Ryan and Esposito were standing behind Kate, each with a death glare on their face. He made sure to look their way, hoping they would catch a glimpse of him and know he was alright and still alive. They never did as much as look at him, but something told him they knew. Kate and Scott were talking back and forth; she somehow had figured out that he was hired by Carlos Yanz and he seemed to credit her ability for that.

"I'll tell you what, Scott: If you let Richard Castle go, you can have me. I'm all yours," Kate had told him. She seemed dead serious, and it scared him wondering if she meant what he said or if she was just acting. He had prayed it was the later.

"Is that what you want, detective?" Scott asked.

"Yes." _Oh Kate,_ he had thought,_ dear god, no._ Whether she was going to take a bullet or not, he had a clear shot to Scott's back and was in perfect position. Just as he had held up the gun to shoot, Scott whipped around so he was facing him. It was now or never. He remembered hearing Kate cry, "No!" Before he pulled the trigger. Seconds after he did so, an enormous pressure had hit him in the gut and he had went black.

When he woke next, he wasn't really aware of what had happened; he had thought that it was Kate who had been shot, therefore he was panicked when he didn't see her. Ryan and Esposito managed to calm him down and reassure him that she was alright, though he was still rather confused when Kate wasn't there to go with him to the hospital. When Alexis showed up without his mother, that's when he put the pieces of together and Alexis confirmed his thoughts.

Captain Montgomery volunteered to drive Alexis, Kate, his mother, and himself back to the loft since it was late. When they got back, he and Kate were starved since they hadn't had anything to eat since that morning. Luckily, there was some left over pizza the girls must have ordered for dinner. Alexis and his mother went straight to bed (or so they claimed) which left he and Kate on the couch by themselves.

"I don't think I've ever eaten a pizza that tastes this good," He said to Kate in between bites of the delicious cheese and pepperoni.

"I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had time to sit down and relax," Kate replied as she laid back on the pillows and helped herself to another slice. "Or how t-t-tired I was," She added on with a yawn.

"Well, after one hell of a run, the case is finally closed," He stated.

"How're ya feeling, Castle?" She asked as she finished her second slice.

"I'm hanging in there," He said with a smile. It was the truth; with all of the meds he was on he didn't really feel anything at the moment.

"Good," She smiled to him. "By the way, do you realize how comfortable your couch is?"

"Well I should, I did pick it out after all. You didn't think I'd give it a little test before I bought it?"

"What did you do, go in and take a nap on all the ones you were interested in buying?" By now she had laid her head down on pillows too and he could see her eyes drooping.

"No, no, I wouldn't do something like that. Okay, maybe I would, but that's beside the point. I actually took Alexis with me, and we went around Al's furniture store for about an hour trying out practically all of the couches. Of course because Alexis was there, she thought ahead and had a pen and piece of paper, marking all the pros and cons of each one. Then after we tried one out, we gave it a score on a scale of one to ten. It was actually a very logical process, and smart too, because after a while they all seemed the same. But in the end, this was our favorite because at that point we were too tired from trying out the other couches and figuring out other décor things, that when we sat down we instantly wanted to lie down and take a nap. So we knew this was the one."

When he finished his story, he looked over and saw that Kate was now fast asleep over at her end of the couch. He quietly got up, grabbed the blanket on the chair next to the couch, and laid it over her. He then kissed her forehead and whispered "goodnight." He seated himself at the end where he had been sitting, laid himself down on the pillows too, and pulled the rest of the blanket over to his side. For the first time in weeks, he felt like he could finally relax.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed chapter 17! I haven't quite decided where how I'm going to end this, but I will say there will probably only be 1-2 more chapters...Reviews are welcome as always and stay tuned for more!**


	18. Surprises

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 18: Surprises**

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone who has been leaving a review, adding this story as a favorite, etc. It's great to know this story is reaching so many people and that you're enjoying it! This chapter is on the shorter side compared to the last couple, but I'm trying to get this done before I leave for school on Saturday. I'm sorry to say there will only be one more chapter after this, but I definitely plan to continue writing Castle fanfics. Enough with me rambling, enjoy!**

After sleeping the night away on Castle's couch, Kate awoke the next day feeling the most rested she had been in a long time. Castle was asleep down at the other end, but he too stirred once she began to. He was a little stiff and sore, so Alexis' treat, she made eggs, French toast, and bacon breakfast for everyone that morning. The night before was in the back of their minds but not forgotten as they sat down and enjoyed a nice meal together. As they ate breakfast, she couldn't help but think she felt like she belonged. She left shortly after breakfast so she could go back to her own place to shower and rest. She had told him she would call him later to make sure he was doing okay, and it turned into a two hour phone conversation.

Montgomery had specifically told her, Ryan, and Esposito that he didn't want to see them at the precinct for a couple days, and for once she had been glad; she had needed the break to gather her thoughts and take it easy (without recovering from a concussion).

When she found herself back at work, it was almost weird because she knew Castle wasn't going to be able to come in until he was healed. It was also weird to think that there was a time where she would come to work and didn't have Castle waiting for her. Oh how things had changed.

"Did Castle make it home alright the other night?" Esposito asked with a grin on his face.

"Yep, just fine," She answered, hoping to leave it at that.

"_Just_ fine?" Ryan joined in too while raising his eyebrows.

"Any more questions or can I get back to the paperwork?" She looked to the two of them and asked.

"Actually, I do have something I want to say," Esposito said as he rolled his chair over to her desk. She rolled her eyes, bracing for some witty remark. Instead he said, "Beckett, I just wanted to say sorry about the other night. Ryan and I just want what's best of ya, and not taking a bullet is part of that. I just didn't want to leave things like our last phone conversation."

"Oh, well thanks, Esposito," She said as he took her by surprise. "I'm sorry I didn't make it easy on you, but thanks for having my back," She added on with a smile. He smiled back, took a handful of the M&M's Castle had recently put a bowl of on her desk, and rolled back over to Ryan.

That afternoon, she was taking down the photos and clearing off their murder board when a figure came up behind her and asked, "Slow day?" She turned to see Castle standing behind her with two coffees in hand.

"Castle, what are you doing here?" She asked surprisingly with a smile.

"I had some un finished business to take care of," He smiled back.

"Is that for me?" She asked pointing to the extra coffee in his hand.

"Yes," he replied, but when she went to reach for it, he jerked his hand away. "But you can't have it yet."

"Yo Castle, didn't think we'd see you around here for at least a week!" Esposito called as he and Ryan came over to greet him.

"Does Captain Montgomery know you're here?" Ryan asked.

"Castle?" Montgomery's voice called from down the hall.

"He does now," Castle answered. Moments later, Montgomery came strolling down the hall to see for himself who was here.

"Castle, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting. Go home!" Montgomery commanded.

"I know, I know, I just had to come by and take care of something." Montgomery made some comment about giving him fifteen minutes before he called Alexis to come pick him up, while the guys strolled back to their desks where they could keep an eye on them.

"So why can't I have that coffee?" She asked as she set down the files.

"Because you have to answer a question for me first."

"Okay…" She replied uneasily. She wasn't entirely sure what was coming next.

"Detective Beckett, would you be interested in going out to dinner with me this Friday night?" Castle asked next with a smile on his face and little twinkle in his eye. She smiled and looked around, unsure of who all heard that. She couldn't believe that after all these years, Richard Castle was actually asking her on a date. She knew something like this would be coming, but she still found herself standing there in shock.

"Sure, Rick, that would be great," She answered as she looked back to him.

"Great," he replied as his smile spread from ear to ear. "My place, say seven o' clock?"

"I'll be there," She answered. "But I thought we were going out?"

"You will be going out: to my apartment." She laughed, knowing he might have something up his sleeve, but it was no use questioning it because she knew he wasn't going to tell her any more information than that. "Until then, Kate." And with that, he held out his hand. She let her hand slide into his as he closed his fingers around it. It was a simple gesture of affection, but it was perfect for the time and place. With one last squeeze, he winked and made his way towards the elevator.

* * *

At Detective Kevin Ryan's desk, he and his partner Javier Esposito tried to look like they were busy with their paperwork as they watched Castle and Beckett over by the murder board. Something was definitely going down by the way the two of them were looking at each other, and it was not going unnoticed.

"What do you think he's saying?" He asked as he leaned close Esposito.

"I don't know, but she's definitely making googly eyes at him," Esposito replied.

"And look at that smile!" Beckett looked around as she did so, including their direction, so they quickly averted their glares and pointed at some of the papers scattered between them. When she looked back to Castle, that's when they knew the coast was clear to continue gazing.

"I saw that. And look at that!" Esposito pointed out as she held Castle's hand. As their conversation wrapped up and Castle headed back towards the elevator, Beckett remained standing by the murder board with a smile on her face as she watched him leave.

"Do you think she realizes she's totally checking him out right now?" He asked.

"I doubt it, but as soon as those doors close, we're going to be in trouble if she catches us watching her," Esposito pointed out.

"Good point." He quickly slid his chair over to his side and as Esposito predicted, as soon as the elevator doors closed, Beckett snapped back to reality and looked their way. About a minute later, a piece of paper landed on his desk. He opened the crumbled piece and saw it read, _"You owe me $20."_ He had lost the bet.


	19. A New Beginning

**That's All It Takes**

**Ch. 19: A New Beginning**

**A/N: Here is the final chapter! I had so much fun writing this story and I'm sad it's coming to an end! As I said, I do plan to continue to write more Castle fanfics when time and inspiration seeks me, so I hope you all will come back to read them. Maybe a continuation on this one will happen, we'll see :) Thank you very much for reading!**

One shot. That's all it takes. That's all that separates us from the dark abyss of nothing and from the world we know as reality. But sometimes, one shot is all it takes to make you realize what has been in front of you the entire time.

It may have taken Kate a while to see that the one person she loved was standing right in front of her since the moment she questioned him about some murders (you don't hear that one every day), but she was beginning to see the phrase, "better late than never," in a new light. The two of them had been through a lot together; a serial killer, a bomb threat, and the most recent events in the park and warehouse, and something told her that this was only the beginning.

"Hey, Kate," Castle called to her as he found his way through the crowd, "Would you like to dance?" She nodded and took his hand as he led her onto the dance floor.

They were at Ryan and Jenny's wedding; it was their first time out in front of their friends and coworkers as a couple, and to be honest, it as rather nerve wracking. People were staring and pointing, and some were whispering about her whenever she walked by, but she was learning to ignore what they thought. Whether the comments were good or bad, it was all part of her adjusting to her life with Richard Castle.

Castle looked absolutely handsome in his designer tux, bow tie and all. When she had complimented him on it earlier, he told her how Alexis had to help him tie it. She loved how after all these years, Alexis was still looking out for him.

"May I say, you look absolutely gorgeous in that dress," He said in her ear as they danced to a slower, jazz like song.

"Thank you," She responded as she could feel her cheeks blushing. She was wearing this knee length emerald green dress that Lanie helped her pick out; it had a deep v neck cut on the front and back, leaving her feeling classy yet sexy.

As the two of them danced with one of her hands resting in his with the other on his shoulder, she spotted Lanie and Esposito dancing not far from them. Esposito had turned so Lanie was facing her, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes when Lanie proceeded to give her thumbs up, and mouth the words, "Finally." As in-your-face Lanie could be, she was also right: She finally had Castle in her arms; a man she had often wondered what it was like to kiss, to take that next step from being best friends and work partners to full-fledged lovers (all of which was better and hotter than she imagined). She had found her someone she would break out of jail, someone she would and had gladly share her past with, and someone she would go to all ends of the earth to save. He was her one and done.

The End

**A/N: Review please! I love hearing all of your thoughts and they do mean a lot! Thanks again for reading, reviewing, favoriting, etc. P.S. 31 1 month until season 4 premieres! **


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